Age of Nazanity
by Mazz84
Summary: Part 2 of 2. Full summary inside. Please R and R.
1. Chapter 1

**Second part of Dr Who and Sonic the Hedgehog crossover. (1st part was **_**Rise of the Egg knights**_**.)**

**Lay out might seem a bit fiddly, that's thanks to me fudging up prologue. So right to it.**

**Dr Who and Sonic belong to the BBC and SEGA respectively.**

**Anyway, enjoy! **

Age of Nazanity.

_Full Summery_

_Part 2 of 2. Eggman and Celosia are one fourth of the way to awakening the beast known as the Nazo Serpent. There is, however, a small ray of hope as the Doctor and the Freedom Fighters give chase. It's an adventure that will take them to the furthest corners of the Universe. But when the journey of a lifetime climaxes in the battle to end all battles, it may be the final curtain call for one of them._

Characters.

Sola the Hedge cat—Combination of Sonic the Hedgehog (spirit) and Carla the Android (body).

Miles 'Tails'Prower—Pilot of the Tornado and wizard with machines.

Amy Rose Hedgehog—Pink cutie with a deadly Piko-Piko Hammer. Currently dating Shadow the Hedgehog.

Shadow the Hedgehog— Ultimate Life form and Master of Chaos Control. Currently dating Amy Rose.

Rouge the Bat—Part time GUN agent and expert jewel thief. Currently step- auntie to Tails.

Dr Eggman Robotnik—All round bad guy. (BOO HISS!)

Celosia—Goddess from the Old Times. Has teamed up with Eggman (again) to destroy the Universe.

Dark Were hog— Dark Gaia has possessed Sonic's body turning him into a Were hog permanently.

The Doctor— Our favourite Time Lord with over 900 years experience at saving the Universe.

* * *

Chapter 1. 

**One week earlier ( ish.)…**

The unexplored part of the 7th galaxy was very quiet, well it was until the darkness was ripped opened with a bang! From the Time Vortex's sparkling depths a box shaped object shot out at alarming speeds. A second later the gap widened and another shape appeared, bigger and more deadlier than the box—an intergalactic war ship.

The TARDIS zigzagged amongst the stars wildly, trying to avoid the laser blasts from the battle ship that was gaining on it fast. The double doors of the box flew open and a black hedgehog in a red space suit climbed onto its roof. From his back pocket the hedgehog pulled out a small laser pistol, took aim and smirked.

"Oh, yeah!" Someone laughed behind him. Glancing over his shoulder he saw a black tuxedoed cat grinning at him. "Time to kick some Robo-butt!"

" You should be resting."

" What! And miss the party? No chance!"

He sighed. "Fine. Just don't get in my way, So—Hey! Hands!"

She looked up at him from her crouching position with a scowl on her face. She showed him a couple of thick wires in her white paws and finished hooking up his harness before starting on her own. " Safety first. You know what _he's_ like." She nodded at the blinking lamp on the TARDIS' roof. " Thinks he's king of the Time Vor-_heck_!" The TARDIS jerked sharply, Shadow reached out and grabbed her hand before she went flying. He held her steady as she tightened her straps. " Thanks." Shadow didn't release her, he just gazed at her. She tapped his arm, " You can let me go now."

"Oh, right." He looked at his gun for a second, his smirk returning and growing. He handed it to her, "You know how work this, right?" he asked and then clenched his fists into tight balls, a second later his hands bursts into blazing pink flames. He hummed with quiet approval, " Ready, Sola?"

She returned his smirk, flicking off the safety on his gun in a well rehearsed move. "You bet. Let's do it to it." Standing side by side, the two friends returned fire.

Inside the TARDIS, at the heart of the vast control room, a mushroomed shaped console stood with many blinking lights, switches and knobs. The glass pillar standing on its top glowed and dimmed, bathing the area in an eerie green glow, as the time rotor inside rose and fell in a steady rhythm.

Working frantically at the controls a skinny man with brown hair frowned as he tried to nudge a troublesome switch into submission. " C'mon, old girl," he said softly to his beloved machine, " now's not the time to be stubborn."

"Doctor!" cried Tails, an orange two- tailed fox, from the other side of the table. "I got flashing lights over here!"

" Me too!" yelled Rouge, a gorgeous white bat beside him. "What do we do?"

The Doctor grunted still trying to fix the switch, "Hold down on your levers, and whatever you do, don't let go. Amy!"

Amy Rose, a cute pink hedgehog , looked at him over her shoulder by her place by the door. "Yeah?"

"Get those trigger-happy morons inside. Mercy will be coming up any second and if we miss it _again_…" he reached down, grabbed the mallet he kept for troublesome switches, and gave the console a thwack. The switch finally flipped over. " Finally! Now, where was I?"

" _**Trigger-happy morons**_."

"Thank you, Rouge. If we miss it again there'll be a double murder."

"They're not responding." She tapped her ear piece, " Sounds like Sola's having too much fun."

"Oh, for the love of…" The Doctor stormed over to the opened doors, took hold of the two safety lines tied on the hand rail and gave them a swift yank. Above them the group heard twins grunts, growing rolling thuds and then,

"Whoa!"

"Ugh!"

Shadow and Sola fell through the doors, landing with a bump at the Doctor's feet. Simultaneously they looked up and grinned sheepishly at him. At his deepening frown they sighed and looked away knowing they weren't going to win this round.

" We've been chasing Mercy for 57 hours and have missed it 9 times. We've jumped 18 different times tracks and for the last 11 hours have been fired at, repeatedly, by Eggman. Now, if you two _boobs _have quite finished…" He pointed purposely towards the console. The two animals got the message and scrambled up the ramp. He closed the doors, leaned against them and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Amy unclipped the lines and put them back the trunk in the corner. Seeing the Doctor looking very tired she patted his arm gently. " You did good. Sometimes they need a firm hand, especially Sonic."

He gave her a weak chuckle, " How did you cope for so long?"

Taking his hand, she led him up the ramp and smiled, " With a lot of patience and a large plate of choc-chip cookies."

"Sounds great."

Her smile grew, "I'll see what I can do, after you park the TARDIS safely."

He returned her smile, " Yes, ma'am," winked and dashed back to his place. A few adjustments later and the pitch of the wheezing engines of the time machine rose in timbre. " Next stop, Mercentoras!" Whooping joyously, he grinned at the Freedom Fighter's excited faces, slammed down a final lever and gripped the console's edge as the TARDIS screamed towards a pink and orange planet in the distance.

* * *

The place was old. Old and dusty. A fine layer of dust coated the floor and surrounding surfaces. Tiny weeds struggled through the cracks in the floor tiles and thick vines draped from the ceilings. Old machinery, computers and the like, sat rusty, alone and forgotten.

It was deadly quiet, until a sudden howling wind, sounding like a group of drunk trumpeting elephants, reverberated around the room. A second later the TARDIS forced it self into existence, kicking up the dust and depositing it somewhere else.

The doors opened and Rouge, in a short summer dress and ankle boots, popped her head out. She wrinkled her nose at the stale scent, quickly ducked back inside and walked out carrying a long woolly cardigan. "This it?" she asked, slipping the cardi over her shoulders and buttoned it up with a shiver. "Place is cold." She ran a finger along the nearest surface, frowning as her white gloves were now covered in dust. " And dusty. Just great." She shook her head, muttering and clapping her hands clean.

"Wow! A real different planet!" Tails, wrapping a thick scarf around his neck, looked around. The dust covered his new red Converse trainers making him scowl, "Just cleaned these…" He muttered as he joined Rouge.

Amy was next, practically skipping out of the TARDIS. She had the hood of her bulky red jumper up and smoothed down her mini-skirt . She gasped, pulled out her camera and span on the spot taking as many pictures as she could. "OH. MY. GOSH! Shadow ,you must see this!" Pocketing the camera, she lunged into the open doors and pulled. " Come on, you'll miss it!"

The black hedgehog sighed as he pulled from the box. His red eyes scanned the area." Just as I remember it. Cold, dank and full of books." He was now wearing a jacket over his space suit, as he zipped up he sniffed. "Smells the same too."

"Will you get a shift on?" came a voice behind him, "I want to see too, you know." He was propelled forward by a sharp shove. Sola, just finishing pulling her long hair into a single braid, winked cheekily at him. Slipping on her favourite blue waistcoat she paused to polish and admire her new robotic right leg, that once belonged to Metal Sonic, and turned to face the Doctor. "You coming, or what?" she called.

Looking up from the controls he nodded, "Just a tick… Ah-ha, got it! Try getting away from me now, old girl." Locking down the controls, incase the TARDIS decided to jump time tracks and leave them stranded, he plucked the fully charged sonic screwdriver from its slot and walked down the ramp, throwing his long brown coat over his shoulders. He stopped just inside the doorway and suddenly started smoothing down every wrinkle he could find on his blue suit. "Do I look OK?" Next, he bent and retied the laces of his burgundy canvas boots, " First impressions are always important."

The cat sighed, "Are you always like this?"

He straightened, guided her out and locked the doors with a flourish. He took her hand, "Not all the time." He grinned wildly, "Here we go ,then. Whole new world. Are you ready?"

She shook her head laughing, "No."

" Neither am I. Isn't it great!" They hurried over to where the others were gathered around a very rusty computer. "Right, then. Let's have a quick look." Working fast, and with the aid of a short blast of sonic energy, he brought up the schematics and whistled. " Here we are. Get a butcher's at that." He moved to the side and let the Freedom Fighters see the mysterious Mercy for the first time. The planet was the same size as Earth Prime, had the same marble effect only it was pink and orange instead of green and blue. The planet also had the same white spots on its top and bottom for its frozen Poles. But the thing that really surprised them were the thick chains that extended from the snowy points, into the sky, anchoring twins moons in a steady orbit. The Doctor fiddled with the controls and zoomed in on the moon fixed in place via Mercy's North Pole. " We're here. Second moon, home of the Lost Library. How's it feel to be back, Shadow?"

Shadow shrugged, "The same, Doctor." He looked around, hardly believing his eyes. " I still can't work out how you did it."

"Well… That's easy. Every time Mercy disappears it leaves behind tiny traces of a certain kind of radiation. Having been here before, Shadow, you have been contaminated with the same stuff. Judging by your face you don't believe me. Here," Handing him his 3D glasses, the Doctor had to smirk as Shadow put them on, lifted his hand and blink. "See? Your Chaos Aura—normally golden in colour—has been contaminated." Taking back the glasses he stuffed them in a pocket. "Taking a sample and using the Chaos Emerald to boost the TARDIS' scanners, we find ourselves here."

" Yeah," said Rouge pointing to another screen that had struggled to come on line, "and so did they."

The group huddled around the monitor, the Freedom Fighter's faces quickly wore looks of discomfort as the shapes came closer. New and improved, the band of metal men in black marched on with a purpose. Each one had eyes of a blazing blue and bulky head phones studded with twinkling red lights. A golden **E** was branded on their chest plates.

The Doctor murmured softly to himself. " The Egg Knights cometh."

**R and R if you like, you don't have to but it would be nice.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Knowing that they had mere moments before the Knights homed in on their position made the Freedom Fighters a little nervous. The Doctor, however, was as cool as a cucumber. He sat hunched over the rusty terminal, gave it an extra boost with the sonic and typed for all he was worth.

"OK," he said a minute later, "I've brought us some time to execute our plan." The group were relieved. Any plan was a good plan right now. The Doctor handed Amy and Tails a yellow credit card each. " I've high-jacked the lift controls. Use the cards to get to your destinations." Next he switched and swapped them around so that Shadow stood next to Tails and Sola ended up beside Amy. "Perfect. Each pair has a power and a smart type." On the screens behind him the Knights were coming closer and closer. "Not much time so listen very carefully. Head for the sections imprinted on the cards and gather every and any information you can on the Nazo Serpent. If you run into Eggman's goons, run the other way. This a recon mission only. Got that, Shadow? **Recon only**."

Shadow folded his arms with a huff, " I'm **not **stupid."

" Could have fooled me," he muttered. Facing the blank wall opposite he aimed the screwdriver and two metal doors appeared. With a **ding** , the doors slid open to reveal two brightly lit elevators within. " Right, gang… Oh, I hate that. Um…Team? Comrades? Whatever. Time is short. Let's do what we have to and split. Mercy is ready to go at any second."

The quartet of animals nodded and headed for the lifts. Tails and Shadow took the left and headed down while Amy and Sola went up in the right. This left Rouge with the Doctor. The white bat grinned nervously at him.

"Well," she said, flicking back her short tom-boyish locks, " where are we heading, then?"

He gave her his most charming smile and took hold on her hand, " To the stuff of legends." He replied, leading the way to the stairwell.

* * *

Amy and Sola got out of the lift and glanced around at their chosen destination. Many paintings containing all sorts of scenes from every religion- human and alien- known through out the galaxies covered the walls. Sola stopped at one picture and gasped; the painting showed a ruined city sinking beneath a huge tidal wave. From the rough waters rose a giant turquoise beast with numerous tendrils and a long neck, its mouth was open in a roar.

"Is that… It's Chaos? B-but that impossible! How's that possible?" She asked Amy.

Amy shrugged as she pushed back her hood. " I don't know. Maybe it's like the Doctor said. Remember? He said the Lost Library belonged to all dimensions. Maybe it's a dimensional hub that doesn't rip apart the fabric of reality when it jumps… Why are you looking at me like that?"

Sola had a dreamy expression plastered on her face, " I love it when you go all techno. Gives me chills!"

" Sonic…" she groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. " Now is not the time to be flirting." Glancing at the dense forest of bookcases and shelves she sighed. " Well, I think if we take a side each we might find something before tea-time." Picking up a leather-bound novel she threw it at the feline who caught it with ease. " Let's hit the books!"

"It's going to be a slow night." Sighed Sola as she walked away to the other side of the section, her metal limb clicking on the wooden floor ever other beat as she melted into the darkness.

Amy listened to the clicking grow distant and then flopped into the nearest chair. Picking out a book at random, she nearly dropped it as she caught the title. " Aw, no way! He was telling the truth after all. Maybe I should have gone easy on him with my hammer." Opening up to the first page she sat back and smiled, " I think I'm going to enjoy this story. I mean with a title like **Sonic and the Black Knight**, you know it's going to be good."

* * *

Over in the children's section, Tails and Shadow were browsing the shelves. The fox flicked through to the last page of the book he was reading, and finding no mention of the Nazo Serpent, sighed and dropped it onto an ever growing pile on the table he was seated at.

Shadow stopped his search and went for a wander. Entering the maze of high wooden book cases, he slowed to a stop. His eyes narrowed and his ears strained. There! The faintest of sounds came from behind the unit he was standing by. Fists clenched tightly, Shadow readied himself to give whatever it was a royal butt-kicking. He jumped out, fists alight with pink flames, and he blinked.

_What the?_ There was no one there. Not a thing. The black hedgehog walked forward, eyes darting left and right. _Could have sworn I heard something… _He made his way to where a table stood on its lonesome and sat on the chair nearby. With a grunt he raised one fists and brought it down hard, hoping to smash something, anything. Instead he hit something solid with a soft thump.

A frown appeared on his tanned muzzle and he looked down, " Now what?" Picking up what he hit, Shadow found himself staring at a very battered book. Taking a deep breath he blew hard and cleared the dust from the title. Squinting at the fine lettering he read it out, " **Dark Astrology: The Lost and Forgotten**. Huh? What's this doing here in the kids part?" He looked around again, "Unless… Someone left it for me." He jumped to his feet, " Hello? Hello is anyone there? Hello!"

"Shadow?" Someone tapped his shoulder from behind.

"GAH!" He jumped and turned to face who ever it was with his hand over his chest. " Damn it, Tails! Don't scare me like that."

" Sorry, Shadow. I'll warn you next time." Tails stiffened a giggle. He saw the book in Shadow's sweaty paws, his eyes tinkled. " What's that? Have you found something?"

A shrug, " I don't know. I think so. What do you think?" He handed the book over. Tails quickly scanned its index, his twin tails twirled excitedly. " Well?"

" I think you've done it… I mean this book has a chapter on Dark Gaia, so the Nazo Serpent must be here somewhere. We should head back to the TARDIS and let the Doctor have a look. Let's go!"

* * *

Rouge edged closer to the Doctor. She didn't want to admit it out loud, but she was a bit scared. The Doctor, glasses perched on his nose and without a care in the world , leaned back in his chair with his feet propped up on the table.

" Hm… Nothing. Nada and zip. Not a dickey bird. " He sighed, tossing the scroll he was reading with the others and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, pocketing his specs with the other. " **I'm **mentioned more times then this Nazo Serpent. Have you found anything?"

She quickly shut the note pad she was reading, " No. Like you, I got zip."

The Doctor got up with a groan and stretched, " We're getting nowhere fast. Let's check the main data base once more for any leads and then, if we don't find anything, we'll head back. So give me a smile and I promise not to tell the others you were scared of the nasty, little books."

Her cheeks flushed and her mouth dropped open, "H-how did you know?"

" Time Lord instinct."

"OH!" Grabbing a scroll, she threw it at him with all the strength she could muster, but she still laughed. " I hate you sometimes."

" I know."

" What a touching sight," came a soft voice from the darkness. A series pf blue lights twinkled in the shadows. From an alcove a woman with fair skin and fairer hair stepped forward. In her hand she held a knobbly staff, its top decorated with a glowing red orb. " We meet again, Doctor." She held out her free hand, " Now be a good Time boy and give me the book."

" It's **Time Lord** and what book? Look around, Goddess, we're in a library. Loads of books to choose from. Take your pick."

Celosia scowled, "Don't play games with me, Doctor. Mercy is about to jump. Give. Me .The. Book!"

"I. Don't. Have. It!" He yelled back, mimicking her perfectly.

"Enough!" She shrieked, " Elite EK's… spread out and find the others. If these two don't have it they might." The black robots bleeped, bowed and fanned out. Once the last one had gone, Celosia grinned devilishly showing her fangs, her eyes gleamed dangerously. " I was going to go easy on, you know, kill the flying rat." Rouge rustled her wings beyond insulted. " But you've upset me so now you must deal with **him**." From her pocket she pulled out a small remote with a single red button. She pressed it once and smirked, fading into the shadows once more. " As I said before Doctor. No mercy."

"What did she do?" Rouge took up a defensive stance beside him. A roar like no other echoed from the dark depths, making them both jump, followed by quickening footfalls, getting louder the closer they got. The bat paled, " Oh, no…not **him**."

A large, bulky shape covered with thick fur, and strapped in a thick metal harness and collar, stepped into the light. He had a pasty white muzzle and hands ending with sharp claws. His pink reptilian eyes fixed onto their position and blazed with blood lust. A trail of milky saliva dripped from his pearly white fangs onto the floor, unnoticed, with a cruel smile. Crouching on all fours, the Dark Were hog threw back his head and howled euphorically at his prey before charging forward.

The Doctor and Rouge looked at each other, both thinking the same thing : They were in DEEP trouble!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3. 

Rouge clung to the Doctor, trembling uncontrollably. "Please tell me you've got a plan." A whimper left her lips as the beast, that was the Dark Were hog, lumbered forward. "Doctor?"

"Not right now. But don't worry, something always turns up to save me in the nick of time." He grinned down at her, though deep down he wasn't too convinced himself about his statement. "Well, when I say… Well, what I mean is…"

"Duck!"

"Where?" They said together and then, "Did you? It wasn't me. Then who?"

"Duck, you idiots!" Behind them came loud clattering foot falls and then something black and fuzzy shot over their heads, barrelling into the giant monster and bringing it to the ground. The Doctor and Rouge stood still, too stunned to move as the two furry shapes rolled on the floor, hissing and spitting, scratching and clawing. The Were hog roared and flung the smaller shape off. It skidded along the wooden floor, stopped at the Doctor's feet and lifted their head with an abashed smile. " So, how do you think the rescue is going so far?"

" Oh, just great." Rouge said dryly. "Good job, Sola."

The Doctor was more sympathetic, " You tried, and that's all that's matters. Up you get." He lent a hand and helped the cat to her feet. Taking out a clothes brush from his voluminous coat pockets he quickly dusted her down. " Is everything A-OK? All systems secured? You look …"

"A little winded. I'll be fine in a second." She took a moment to get her breath back and then grinned. " I come bearing good news. We might have a lead. Shadow found a book about old space monsters but some of it's in hieroglyphics, even **I **can't translate them with Carla's big brain. We need the TARDIS."

The Doctor took this in and turned to Rouge, " Must be the book Celosia's after." He turned back to Sola, " Where's everyone now?"

"Waiting for you two by the TARDIS. EK's came out of nowhere so we had to hide, they're now standing guard and we can't get near it." She shrugged. " Celosia made an appearance, gave out some orders and then transported away muttering about you and your furry comeuppance. I slipped away to help and get some pay back."

Rouge tugged on the Doctor's sleeve , "Speaking of furry…" she jabbed behind her with her thumb, " What do we do about, Dog face? No offence, Sola." She added quickly, the cat waved it off.

While they had been talking, the Were hog had righted himself and was now sitting crossed-legged, watching them with a blank expression. He cocked his head in thought and then, quite surprisingly, curled up and fell asleep.

Sola blinked in astonishment, "What's wrong with him? I mean, me?"

The Doctor edged forward, withdrew the sonic and quickly waved it over the Were hog's sleeping form. Nodding at the results, he looked at his watch, " As I thought, it's day time on this side of the moon. Dark Gaia takes its power from the night. When it possessed your body, Sonic, it wasn't up to full strength. That fight between you tired him out so much he needs to recharge."

"So what do we do? We can't just leave him here."

" Already on it." He stood, raised the screwdriver above his head and activated it. Its tip blinked a brilliant blue for a couple of seconds and then he replaced it back into his pocket. " There. I've just told the EK's where we are. We'll be long gone when they arrive to take him back to Eggman. Hopefully, we'll be able to sneak past ,board the TARDIS and be spinning in the Time Vortex before they know what's happened."

"That's so devious." Rouge smiled, " I'm impressed."

The Doctor beamed, " I thank you. We've got a few minutes, so get ready to run."

Sola smirked, " Doc, I was **born** to run."

* * *

Safely on board his war ship, Eggman waited for the others to return. Sitting in his chair ,he tapped on the armrests waiting for news. Growing impatience, he gave his computer a whack. "Computer, report!"

"**EK's 20 to 30 are still on the moon's surface. Her Highness and the Dark Were-hog have parted ways,"**

"What! She left him on his own? Send more EK's to recover him at once! We mustn't let that other Doctor get too close. The time's not right, not yet."

" **EK units 48,79 and 13 are en route, Doctor."**

Eggman sat back, "Good, good. As soon as they come back get that … **thing** to the Vault to recover. And notify me when Celosia-"

" **Detecting a surge of Chaos energy."** The doors of the Bridge slid open and Celosia strolled in, calming stroking the glowing red orb, that was the Eye of Iblis, on top of her staff.** " Doctor, Celosia has teleported on board and the Dark Were-hog is safely in the Vault. All EK units are back in the holding bay."**

" I can see that, you fool!" He smacked the screen, and then to her, " You took your time. Did you get the book?"

"No. Unfortunate events called for my hasty retire. But do not fret my soft, boiled one. I might not have the book but soon we will have the next Eye. It came to me by a vision." She sat beside him, " Computer, set course for the planet Marina."

" **Yes, your Highness. Course is plotted for the water planet Marina. Chaos Control in 3…2…1…"**

* * *

The Freedom Fighters had managed to sneak past the Ek's and were now back on board the TARDIS. Inside the control room the Doctor was hunched over the controls trying to decipher the passage in the book they had taken from the Lost Library. He was making slow progress because the TARDIS did not recognise the writing, and therefore, could not translate it. With a frustrated growl he kicked the base of the central podium. Instantly, he regretted it as pain shot up from his foot all the way up his leg. He grabbed the throbbing limb and jumped all over the control room, swearing under his breath.

The doors to the inner sanctum opened and Amy walked in carrying two steaming mugs and a packet of cookies under her arm. " Tea's up." She said cheerfully, then she spotted the hopping Doctor, " No…The Doctor's up, and down, and then up again. Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, I'm…Ooh ,tea!" Hobbling over, he took one of the cups and snatched the packet, "Aw, choc-chip!" Ripping it open, he stuffed two biscuits into his mouth and quickly washed them down with a swig of tea." Mm, much better."

"How's it going?" Amy asked as she parked herself on the battered pilot seat. Peeking at the screen under his arm, the swirling symbols made her eyes go funny. " It looks like gibberish."

"That's because it** is** gibberish!" The Doctor sighed, perched on the consoles edge and sipped his tea thoughtfully. " The TARDIS can't translate it which means it old writing. I'm not sure how old, but it's definitely old." He glanced around at the empty room, " Where is everyone? I though this was going to be a **team** effort."

Amy cupped her mug, "They're unwinding after our narrow escape. Tails is in workshop…A? Second down the stairs to the right. Right?" The Doctor nodded, "Says he's working on a top secret surprise. Don't ask me, I don't know." She added when he raised his brows in question. " Um, I found Rouge in the wardrobe room. She's strutting around wearing a long, stripy scarf." The Doctor smiled into his cup, "I couldn't find Sola or Shadow anywhere."

"I know where Sola might be," He set down his cup and fiddled with some controls, the screen with the unreadable passage changed to one with more strange symbols on it. " I got her! She's in the medi-bay." Quickly he opened a channel on the TARDIS' newly installed inter-com, " Hello, medi-bay! Sola, can you hear me?"

There was a load of static and then a voice came through, but it wasn't Sola, **" Shadow here. Sola's feeling a little under the weather,"**

"Nothing serious is it?" Amy voice had a worried edge to it.

"**No, just doing a routine diagnostic. Once we're done, we'll join you in the control room."** In the medi-bay Shadow switched the inter-com off and turned to face the bed. " How are you feeling?" He asked.

Despite being strapped down by her wrists and ankles, Sola managed to give him a lazy smile, " I'm tied to a bed. How do you think I feel?"

"I should have brought grapes."

"Aw, Shads," She teased, "I didn't know you cared."

"Ha,ha," he pushed aside the flaps of her waistcoat, unclipped her chest plate and connected a series of multi-coloured wires between her and a terminal near by. " All set, Sonic. This might tingle."

"You know," she mumbled, " if anything goes wrong, Amy will kill you with her bare hands. Right?"

"I know. Hold still." He started the programme, soon the screen was filled with rows of nonsense numbers and unreadable charts. " Hm. It seems ring energy is down a couple of points, that would explain the tiredness, but apart from that everything checks out." Looking over his shoulder at her, he caught her gaze and knew something didn't check out. " You're worried about something."

" I'm sure it's nothing, but just to be on the safe side…"

"We'll print off these readings and give them to Tails." Approaching the bed, Shadow made quick work of the straps holding her down. Once she was free, he pulled out the wires and replaced her chest plate. He was about to leave when she suddenly sat up and grasped his hands tightly. "What is it?"

"I know why ring energy is down. According to my internal clock…" She forced herself to look directly into his eyes and bit her bottom lip , " I've got just over 4 days until complete system shut down."

"You can't be serious! The Doctor said-"

" Then he was wrong! Putting me in here was a short term solution. If I'm not back in my own body in 4 days, then…" she drew a invisible line across her throat. " I buck the kicket." She corrected herself, "I mean, kick the bucket."

"You're not going to die, Sonic." He squeezed her hands gently and leaned forward until their foreheads brushed against each other, a faint blush appeared on his cheeks. " I won't let you… I can't."

" Shadow…"

The moment, if there was one, was broken as Amy burst through the door. They quickly jumped apart. Amy beamed at the couple, their guilty glances going unnoticed. "Hey, you two. Guess what?" She bounced across the room, hugged Shadow around the waist and planted quick peck on his cheek.

Sola watched as a deeper blush crossed the black hedgehogs cheeks and had to hide her grin. " I'll bite, Amy. What?" she asked, her tail swishing with excitement as she caught a familiar gleam in the pink ones eyes.

Amy giggled, " Well, I was with the Doctor and all of a sudden the Chaos Emerald started blinking like crazy! He's says the TARDIS is being pulled towards Marina and everybody needs to be in the control room. It might be a bumpy landing."

"When's it not?" Sola led the way out down one of the many corridors of the time machine. "So…planet Marina, eh? Did the Doc say anything about it?"

"Well…yeah. He let something slip."

Sensing her friends' uneasiness, the cat draped an arm around her shoulders, " Come on, Ames, spill it. What did the Doc tell you?"

Amy mumbled something, cleared her throat and tried again, " Marina's a water planet."

" WHAT! I. Hate. Water!" She moaned, weeping as Shadow and Amy dragged her to the control room, kicking and screaming.

* * *

**Up-date soon. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A to Z with nothing in between.**

**I bring you the two worst words in history...Writers-effing-block! **

**Any way, enjoy this installment. **

* * *

Chapter 4. 

If you were to look at the planet Marina, you'd think you'd died and gone to whole planet was covered in crisp,turquoise waters that stretched as far as the eye could see and sparkled under a single sun. Dotted around far and wide were small islands complete with sandy beaches and palm trees.

On one such island, standing out like a blue sore thumb, stood the TARDIS. Its doors were open revealing the control room. The Doctor was standing at the top of the entry ramp looking mildly impressed, which wasn't often.

"Well?" Asked a nervous looking Tails, who was now sporting a fetching brown waistcoat, matching boots and flight goggles. " It's just a prototype, but what do you think?"

The Timelord pursed his lips together, took out the sonic screwdriver and ran its blue tip along the surface of the yellow board infront of him. "Well... I like the craftsmanship, very sleek and modern. I like the personal touch of the colour- your favourite, yes? but do you know what I really, _**really**_ like?"

Tails gulped, "Wh-what?"

The Doctor's face broke into a beaming smile, "It flies!" Placing a hand gently on the board, he pushed down lightly. The board took the weight and bobbed in the air for a few seconds. " You made this out of the spare parts from the storage cupboard, the trinkets in your techno trunk and the mini go-kart you brought with you in just a couple of hours?" Tails, now pearched on the hand rail, nodded. "So this was your_** top secret surprise**_?" Another nod. He sighed deeply, " Hate to say it, Tails,but...I'm impressed."

The cub's face flushed, " I...I think there's a compliment in there somewhere. And I didn't just make one prototpye,"

"No?"

He grinned, "I made six! OK, guys, you can come out now."

From the inner santuary of the time machine the Freedom Fighters walked out each carrying a costomised board. Rouge was first in black hot pants and matching t-top with a purple board, to match her boots and gloves. She winked at the Doctor before heading out to pratise her moves. Amy was next with her pink board, she hadn't changed just taken off her bulky jumper which pleased the Doctor ( he was still a bit miffed at her for using it to sneak out **two **books from the Lost Library.) she smoothed down her mini- skirt, adjusted the camera around her neck and skipped out to join Rouge. Shadow followed shortly after, the black hedgehog was out of his spacesuit and back wearing his normal shoes and gloves. Under his arm he carried his black hover-board. There was a haunting expression on his face as he passed them.

"Shadow... You OK?"

The black hedgehog gave a slow nod. " Everything's fine." He murmered softly. And with out another word headed out to regroup with the girls.

The Doctor and Tails shared a concerned glance, "Something's up." Tails peered through the gap in the doors with his arms folded, he could just make out the others having prastice races around the trees with Amy taking photos. " It seems that Shadow has reverted back to his old self. Maybe we should ask him what's wrong."

The Doctor held him back, "Later. He'll tell us when he's ready."

"Good call." The pair turned and found Sola standing by the consoule with a board under each arm. She smiled at them both, "Loving the Extreme Gear, T2. Just like old times."

"Thanks, Sonic! They're only prototypes. No big deal."

"_**No big deal**_ he says." Leaning the boards against the pilot chair, she reached over and ruffled his fringe. " Aw, such a humble young'un." She faced the Doctor, "Well?"

"Well what?" He asked, completely confused and not liking it one bit. Sola gestured to the two boards: one blue and one red. " What?" He said again.

"You can have the blue one, it goes with your suit. Red's not too much of a girly shade, and I miss my sneaks, so I'll take that one." She grinned clapping her hands, "Great! Glad that's sorted." The Dcotor gaped at her. "So, do we know where the Eye is on this..." She shuddered, "...Water planet?"

"Well," went the Doctor booting up the TARDIS' computer, " I'm getting high energy readings, that could be the Eye, unfortunately it's coming from under the sea. Good news is that some of these islands house entry/ exit tunnels and one's near our posittion." He took out his BMD ( Bad Mojo Detector) and up- loaded the energy readouts coordinates. " There. All done."

" Come on then, Doctor." Tails grabbed his arm and was steering him towards the doors, " time for a quick practice. Let's see if you've got the moves."

Sola grinned behind her hand as Tails led the stuttering and protesting Doctor out of the TARDIS. She was about to join them when the console bleeped. "Huh? What's up with you, old thing?" Flicking serveral switches, just like the Time Lord had shown them, she brought up a simple start-up menu. " Ooh, it's a T- Mail! Let's see. It's addressed to the Doc, but I'm sure he won't mind if I take a peek." She clicked on the flashing envelope, quickly scanned its contents and did a double take at the signature. " Who ever wrote this must know the Doctor pretty -" The last part of her sentence was drown out by a terrified scream. Quickly she grabbed her board and hurried out of the TARDIS shutting the door behind her, "Oh!"

" Don't. You. Dare. Laugh!" Said the Doctor through gritted teeth. He was halfway up a palmtree his arms around the trunk, holding on for dear life. His lower half was floating upwards backwards, it looked extremely painfull. "Someone help me!"

"Hold on!" Sola zipped up her waistcoat. She took a running start, threw her board out infront of her and hopped on. Keeping her knees slightly bent and arms out for balance she circled the tree and reached the top in seconds, " Guess you're not a flying doctor, then?" She held out a helping hand.

"Very funny, " he replied dryly. With shaky moments he held onto her ,screwing his eyes shut as she lowered them to the ground. "Ugh..." he mumbled a string of ingornanet words as he sat down on his board, it bobbed under his wieght as he held his head in his hands. He was very green in the face. " Don't think I'm cut out for hover-boards."

"We've got no choice. You said the Eye must be under water and the best way to get it would be by using the boards. Eggman might already be here and the TADRIS might be at risk if you take it to the City."

"Oh, all right." He mumbled to Tails. Slowly he got to his feet and pulled out his BMD from his inside pocket. " Right...Gather round, troop. This island had two entry points; one to the left and one to the right." The device bleeped when he pointed left, "Aha! High readings of unknown power supply. This way to the Eye." BMD back in his pockets and board under his arm he led the others who followed closely behind.

"No. Wait!" Sola cried but it was too late. The group barely had time to duck out the way as a giant tentacle covered in smelly slime shot out. "No!" The limb, thick as a tree, headed for the Doctor who was in a bit of a daze and sprawled on the sand. Sola dropped her board, ran full pelt towards the beast and jumped on the attacking limb. Using her fists, legs and anything else, she pounded it as hard as she could. "Leave him alone!"

"Sola, look out!"

She heard Shadow's warning in the distance but acting a split-second too late. Soon the area around her was thick with arms. They rose up, waving in the breeze and then swooshed down for the attack. She jumped, ducked and dived to the best of her abilities. Hopping over one, she spotted a small opening and was glad to see Shadow through it with his arms outstretched. She made a bee line for him when...

**SNATCH!**

"Uh-oh," a feeler snapped it self around her body, squeezing her tightly, she could hear her metallic joints creaking. " Help! Help me!" The mass of arms started to slowly retreat towards the cave. Desperately she clawed the ground, her nails making tracks as she was dragged along. " HELP!"

" I got you!" From no where the Doctor appeared taking her flaying hands in his. The pull of the gaint sea beast was proving too much, he grunted as he too was being dragged along. "A little help, please!"

One by one the Freedom Fighters lined up behind him. Holding on to each other waists, with feet planted firmly into the sand, the friends gritted thier teeth and tugged back with all the strenght they could muster. For a second it looked like they were making progress when the creature released a thunderous shreech and yanked hard. Sola lost her grip and looked horrified at the Doctor who, to her surprise, looked more scared then she'd ever seen him before.

Her scream echoed as she taken into the dark depths, "Doctor!"

"Sola!" Fighting to unscramble himself from the others, he crawled on his hands and knees to the cave's mouth, "Sola? Sola!" From the blackness came a muffled relpy, almost too muffled to make out.

"What do we do now?" Asked Amy, nervously tugging her hair. "Where's it taken her?"

Shadow folded his arms, deep in thought and then, "My guess...The underwater city."

"We have to get her back! Let's stop wasting time and go fetch her." After collecting his board from the pile, Tails marched towards the cave. "Well? Come on!"

Rouge held him back, "Hold on, sweet-pea. The Doctor's having one of his moments."

It appeared she was right. The Doctor was still kneeling at the entrance rubbing together his thumb and forefinger. He brought them up to his nose, sniffed and suddenly recoiled in disgust, "Strange. Very strange," he muttered. "The Maries- the locals, if you like- are not known for their technology. So... The real question is this: Where did they get a Robo-Squid from?"

The others looked at each other and together spluttered, "Th-that was a robot?"

"Of course." He jumped to his feet, in full Doctor-mode now, wiping the gunk off on his trousers, "Dark blotches of crude oil," he pointed to the white sand where black spots were everywhere, " the smell is old mechine grease and lubericates plus the typical salty desposits from the ocean. and the clincher- a limb of the robot lost a bolt as it escaped. See?" From his inside pocket he withdrew a big metal bolt with a chipped head. " But how did Sola know before we did?"

Rouge shrugged, "Don't look at us. We're not physic, you know."

"Physic? Physic! Oh, Rouge I could kiss you!" He pulled out the black wallet- containing his magic paper- and flipped it open, "Look. The TARDIS recieved a T-Mail moment before the attack."

"Well, what's it say?"

He read it carefully, "_Hello, Sweetie. If you want to go far, remember this helpful tip: Do the oppostie._ Short but effective."

Amy giggled," Sweetie?"

The Doctor ignored her, reading the message again a slight smirk grew on his face, "Hmm... _Do the opposite_. I wonder..."Taking the BMD, he waved it in an arch and it beeped at the Robo-Squid's dwelling. Frowning, he continued the swing until it beeped beamed, "Right, you lot! This way!" Gathering up his board he headed right.

"What! That's it?" Shadow came up along side him. The others follwed a few steps behind, they knew to steer clear if Shadow went into one of _his_ moments. "You get an anomymous T-Mail and you as it says. Why?"

"Trust." The Doctor relpied simply. He smiled gently down at him, " I trust the author completely ... Well , someday I will." Shadow looked confused, he shrugged. " Complications of being a Time Lord. But the point is trust. Do you remember when we were on board the ARK? You trusted me then and I hope you can trust me now. You can trust me." With his free hand he reached down and took Shadow's own, the black hedgehog blinked at him, "You can trust me." He repeated softly.

Shadow quickly looked back to the others who were deep in their own conversation. He sighed and nodded,

"It's about Sola..."

* * *

**More soon, I hope.**

**I'm thinking a sword fight between the two Doctors. What do you think? **


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 .

Celosia tapped her long nails against the golden arm-rest of her throne. Her annoyance levels were rising and in danger of boiling over if she didn't see results soon. Today was turning out to be just like the others since landing on the water planet three months ago and forcing the whole population to worship her as their new ruler. To follow her every command. Her face contracted into a frown, her other hand gripped her wooden staff tightly in warning and she was very pleased to see that her actions frightened the lowly subject kneeling in front of her.

"M-My Queen," the man stammered, crumbling the hem of his dirty tunic in his lap. " We have search non stop for days. With no food or water. Please, we must rest."

"Have you found it?" She asked, keeping her voice as clam as she could. The servant gulped nervously and then shook his head sadly. She pouted, " Then... you give me no choice." Slowly she got up and the servant's eyes widened.

"No! No, my Queen." He pleaded getting to his feet but was held down in place by the two black Elite EK's who had dragged him from the mines and brought him to her chambers. " We'll try harder. I promise! **Please**!" He wept.

"I'm afraid you've gone and upset me," the red gem sitting at the top of the staff glowed dangerously, she smiled at the light, at the power contained within and withdrew her arm, "and you know what happens to people who upset me."

"NO!" There was a flash of light, a loud bang and the room was suddenly filled with the smell of roasting meat. All that was left of the man was a pair of smoking sandals.

"Ugh!" Celoisa slumped back into her chair wrinkling her nose. "Can these incompetent morons do anything right! must I do it all my self?" With a wave of a hand the EK's nodded and left. Once alone she sighed running a hand over her face. A soft grumble behind her made her smiled tiredly. " Ah, my pet. Mummy needs some comfort."

From the shadows the fuzzy behemoth of Were-hog crawled to crouch by her side. Still dressed in the controlling harness and looking very fed up and sleep deprived. He lifted his head for her and she stroked the white tipped quills softly making him close his eyes and whimpering contently when she found the right spot. As odd as it was the routine was becoming a regular thing between the pair.

"Oh, my brother," she whispered to him, "I know the stories of the face changer, what he's done to so many of our kind. And I fear him. I fear the Doctor. He might be clever enough to work it out, to foil our plan. These people don't want to help us full-fill our birth right." Her lips pulled back into a snarl. "Perhaps a little persuasion. Hm?" A play-full nip from the Were-hog told her he was in favour. "Maybe you could show them the error of their ways. You were always so good at it." The beast huffed warm air into her palm, curled up and went to sleep.

It was quiet for a few moments. The only sound was the steady breathing of the beast at her feet. Listening to his rhythmic snores Celosia found her eyes drifting close. A quick nap would do no harm. Right?

* * *

"I hope the Doctor's OK?" Amy edged closer to Shadow reaching for his hand. "I wish he wouldn't do that all the time- leaving without telling anyone. Anything could happen. But..." She smiled a little, " This is just like last time. The gang together on an impossible mission in some far away place and with Extreme Gear! It's going to be great, despite the huge amount of danger that goes with it. Don't you agree, Shadow?"

"If you say so." He gave her an uncertain look. " I don't remember the **last time**."

"Shadow, I'm so sorry." She squeezed his fingers. " I totally forgot about your memory loss. Ugh! I'm such a ditz!" Behind them Rouge snorted, "Oh, yeah? What about you ,then? Do you recall last time?"

The bat drew up along them on her board. While Shadow and Amy had decided to walk along this part of the tunnel, she and Tails took to the hover boards searching for clues and in case Eggman or his pet made an appearance. She shrugged at the pink hedgehog, "Look, honey, the last time the wine flowed freely. I had 6 glasses of cherry wine so every thing's hazy but I **do **remember the infamous Cream in a Can prank involving Sonic, Tails, one of Tails' cameras and a sleeping Knuckles." At this point Shadow had let go of Amy, shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, his shoulder shook with silent laughter. "Ah, seems I'm not the only one."

"Oh, tell me you lot didn't, not to Knuckles?" Amy swept her gaze across all three of them, each wore a guilty expression. She huffed and shook her head, "You did."

Tails suddenly sat up on his board, "Hey, what's that?" The group stopped and looked ahead. The fox dismounted carefully and pushed up his goggles. " What **is **it?"

Rouge shrugged again, "I don't know, sugar. But whatever it is, it's pretty. Like, Chaos Emerald pretty." She added, her voice going soft and dreamy.

"Do you think it's dangerous?" Amy asked Shadow who was peering at it cautiously.

"I don't think so. If it was it would done something by now." He reached out a hand but then quickly withdrew it realising something. "I think we should follow it." He said jumping on his board.

"And **why **should we follow you?" Asked Rouge, hands on hips.

Shadow smirked at her, "I don't know about you lot, but I know that blue anywhere. "

Amy looked closely at the new arrival. The blue colouring **did** look familiar. "You don't think... You don't think it's **him,** do you?"

"I do. Now let's go, he might lead us to some answers."

* * *

The Doctor took a shaky breath. That last jump was tricky, he almost didn't nail the landing. Rounding the corner he spotted the odd- but so far- helpful blue light that showed itself after the group gave a big EK patrol the slip just inside the tunnel entrance. Deep down he knew he'd get it in the neck for leaving, mainly from Amy, but he had to know what- or who- was responsible for this strange light.

Looking ahead his twin hearts plummeted to somewhere by his stomach. Another jump and it looked further than the last one. Adjusting his tie, bending his knees slightly and leaning a little forward for extra speed he climbed the slope and prayed he didn't mess up. Once air borne he crouched, grabbed one side of the board and span around in a circle- a perfect 360. _**Now the landing **_he thought spying the other side of the half pipe approaching. He closed his eyes and didn't open them until he felt the underside of the hover board bump the ground as it landed. Blinking he patted himself down and let out a vastly relieved bark of laughter. While he was making a triumph gesture with his fist the ball of light floated down to bob at his side. He smiled at it and nodded in understanding, the light flickered for a second and then floated down a dimly lit corridor not unlike an underwater walkway you'd get at a sea-life center. Slightly green from his jumps the Doctor followed. _**Where are you taking me? **_He wondered.

Unluckily he didn't have the chance to find out. Emerging from the other side of the glass walkway he barely had time to act as a loud booming voice shouted, **"NOW!" **A split second later a laser sword came out of no where and sliced his board clean in half. The Doctor let out a surprised yelp and fell to the ground face first, his chin smacking against it with a sickening crack. **"At last. The Doctor!"**

The Time Lord groaned trying to quell the wave of bile rising in his throat. He groggily got up onto his hands and knees wondering what the heck had happened when he heard loud, stomping footsteps. He looked up just in time to see the point of a very dangerous and deadly advanced blade being shoved in his face. He followed the the body of the sword, up the chunky metallic arm and torso finally stopping at the head. If he squinted he could just make out a face behind the green tint of the visor.

"Ah. Oh, hello." He stood, " Have you seen a lost kitten around here? Black and white markings, answers to the name of Sola?" No reply. "Hm... Guess not. Sorry to have wasted your time. Bye-bye!" He tried to side step around the metal monster when a smaller laser sword was dropped at his feet. "You _**cannot **_be serious."

"**Pick it up.**" Eggman flexed his arm, gripping his own sword in a tight hold. The sword glowed with intense power. His machine pawed the ground. " **Pick it up.**" He repeated.

"I'm not going to play swords with you, Eggman. I just want Sola back before it's too late."

Eggman chuckled, " **Oh-ho-ho! So you know the fate of the rodent too. Delightful isn't it? The golden ring you implanted is still losing energy and him trying to help you is only making matters worse. According to my calculations ring energy is down five more points. Sonic has 3 days left so even if you do defeat Celosia and my self- which I think is unlikely- I'll still have the last- Uugghh!"** The Egg-Bot stumbled backwards from a suddenly blow to the mid-section. Looking down he spotted the Doctor and chuckled, "**What's this then? Is the traveller who **never **wields a weapon taking up arms?**"

The Doctor held his sword high with a determined look in his eyes. " Give her back to me."

"**Do I detect that you care, Doctor. Sonic the Hedgehog or what ever you're calling the android...Sola, is not your next Rose Tyler. But if you **do **care, if you want her, you'll have to fight for her. Prepare yourself, Doctor ****!**" With an almighty roar he charged forward.

The Doctor shouted his own war-cry and hurried to meet him. He had to time it just right. A micro-second before he reached Eggman he ducked and then jabbed upwards catching the mid-section again, severing vital circuits and connections. The Egg-Bot staggered forward, glanced at its hissing middle,turned on the spot and let loose another thunderous roar of fury.

"**DOC-TOR!**" Screamed Eggman.

The two of them traded blow after blow , both weapons screaming with power every time they connected. The Doctor blocked a blow to the head only for the Egg-Bot to swing out its leg, taking him down with a well aimed flick to the back of the knees. He grunted, sword flying out of his hands and skidding to a stop at the other side of the tunnel. Scrambling to his feet he saw Eggman raise his blade high above his head, ready to strike the fatal blow...

* * *

**Happy- bleeding- New Year to all. **

**It seems Mr 10th Doctor is to marry in 2012. Yeah, well "good luck, mate" is all I say.**

**Might have a go at doing some thing else so next up -date could be any time. But thanks if you've read so far I appreciate it.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

Eggman raised his blade above his head ready to deal the final blow that would rid him of the Time Lord for good. He smiled and brought it down full tilt only for it to connect with something else with a hollow **BONG!** He did it again and again getting the same results.

**"How are you doing that?" **He damanded, **"Stop being clever and let me kill you!" **The sword bounced off a couple more times, **"Stop it !"**

"It's not me!" The Doctor called back equally confused. Each time Eggman swung his sword the blade would hit some kind of shield. He slipped on his 3D glasses to get a better look. The blade hit again and the shield shimmered around him in a bright blue hue. The Doctor's face slowly broke into a smirk. He knew who it was now. "Oh, Eggman. You poor, old fool." He leaned against the smooth surface in a casual manner returning the specs to his inside pocket. "You think you're so smart when really you're a big, fat idiot."

**"I'm warning you, Doctor. Any more of you're insolence and I'll strike you down where you stand." **

A brow arched, "Really? OK, then. Strike me down if you like, if it'll make you feel manly." The laser sword hummed as Eggman charged it to full power. "But before you do, " the Egg-Bot wavered, "my last words."

Eggman sighed, very bored now. **"And they are?"**

The Doctor grinned, " Yippie-ki-yay, fat man!" In a flash of gold the Doctor dissappeared leaving Eggman standing all alone and the confused one this time.

**"Impossible! H-He couldn't have!" **Switching to his internal radio he contacted all available EK units in the area. **"This is a code red! The Doctor has escaped,last seen in the tunnel heading for sector K-57. All units search the surrounding town and when you find him bring him to the Goddess. **_Alive_. **Do you understand?" **

"UNDERSTOOD." Came the faint reply. "UNITS FROM THE SURFACE REPORT THAT THE DOCTOR'S SHIP HAS BEEN CAPTURED. THEY'RE MOVING IT TO THE LABS AS WE SPEAK."

**"Eggcellent. Egg-bot returning to Base."** Re-routing what ever power he had left, Eggman turned and headed back down the tunnel. **" This time, Doctor your secrets **_WILL_** be mine!"**

The Doctor came screaming from the heavens plummeting into a cart loaded with brimming sacks of some sort of local grain. On impact dust flew every where coating him from head to toe in a fine layer. The Doctor heaved a great sigh, took a moment to gather his thoughts and then slowly sat up.

He had crash landed in the middle of a deserted market place- judging by the wooden stalls and forgotten baskets that lined the streets. Scanning the area his eyes caught a small flicker of light coming from the shadows. He narrowed his eyes as the light slowly edged closer and then they widened when the cause revealed itself.

A girl, no more than six or seven years old, stopped just shy of the alley way opening. She looked both ways before desperately beckoning him over, when he didn't move she scowled at him. " You are the Doctor, yes?"

"Why should I tell you?"

She sighed," You know the Blue Blur? The one they call..." Leaning forward slightly she whispered, "...Sonic?" He nodded and she grinned,beckoning him a second time with finger that was adorned with a bronze ring. The source of the flickering light." Your friends are hiding nearby. Come, I'll take you to them."

"Any **funny stuff **and I'm telling your parents." Scrambling off the cart he joined her in the shadows and just in time too. Coming around the corner were the tell-tale sounds of stomping feet, a second later and a patrol of black EK's fanned out and started searching the market place. Together the Doctor and his new friend huddled deeper into the shadows to avoid detection. It was a long while before the EK's turned to each other, bleep and then stomp off. Once they were gone both breathed out sighs of relief.

" We must hurry. You follow." Quickly the girl ducked out into the street and for the first time the Doctor got a good look at her. Dressed in a knee-lenght tunic in blue and brown sandals, she had pale green skin with a light covering of darker green freckles across her nose, deep red hair that was tightly curled and rested on her shoulders. But it was her eyes made him blink in surprise, they were a vivid shade of violet." Come. Quickly." she said again.

The odd pair ducked and dived through the dusty streets and alleyways before coming to a stop outside a crumbling curch of some Doctor followed the little girl through the big double doors of the building, carefully edging his way pass stone pillars and old statues. The girl wondered around, finally coming to a stop beside an elderly man dressed in a simular tunic and sandals, his hair was very grey and in a ponytail that reached the middle of his back.

"Ah!" He grinned, "You, sir, must be the Doctor-man. We hear you will set us free from the Goddess." He extended a hand in greeting.

The Doctor, covered in flour dust, shook his offered hand warmly. " Uh...Guess I am. So, what do I call you then?"

"Midus." Came a soft voice behind him. The Doctor cringed knowing who it was and half turned. Seeing a blur of yellow he raised his hands to cover his head. He heard a sigh, " I should, but I won't." Amy lowered her Piko-Piko hammer. She glared at him, "You left us!"

" I know and I'm sorry." Came his mumble along with a shuffle of feet." But,hey,it worked out. We found each other,didn't we? That's a good question; how did you lot end up here the same time as me?"

" Well...We don't know." She said lamely.

The Doctor cocked his head to one side, "You don't know." He repeated. "Could it be something to do with a small ball of shimmering blue light?" Amy's mouth dropped slightly open and her hammer vanished in a shower of sparkles. He smirked, "Thought so."

Amy leaned closer, "You saw him too?" He nodded, "But what does that mean? Is he...Is he..." She couldn't finish, she didn't want to say it out loud.

"I don't think so. I think he's hanging on in there,Amy. We'll get him back before time runs out, I promise." He gave her a quick hug. "Now,then, where are the others?" Midus coughed queitly and jerked his head to a side door. The Doctor grinned in thanks and, taking hold of Amy's hand, headed through quietly. To their great surprise the little girl joined them. "Oh, hello...Uh..."

She pointed to herself, "Petra."

"Is he ready now?" Somebody asked in a gruff tone. The Doctor saw Shadow walking up to them, his eyes were cloudly and his mood matched. "Glad you could join us, Doctor. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

" My Gramps can see you now, black hedgehog. Please to follow me."

Once Shadow and the girl had left Amy let go of the Doctor, whirled round and smacked him hard on the arm. The Doctor yelped loudly, rubbed his arm and pouted. But before he could get a word in Amy shushed him and nodded towards where the other two were gathered around a single table. The Doctor raised his brows at her in question but again she shushed him. Following the pink hedgehog they found Rouge and Tails bent over a stone tablet. Half of it was missing but they all knew who it was depicturing;

A large serpentine dragon with stick thin arms and sharp talons rising from a vast river of lava surrounded by spiky towers of rock.

The Doctor whistled under his breath and leaned in for a closer look. " Hang on. I've seen this before."

" No, you haven't." Scoffed Rouge with a flick of hair.

"No, seriously.I have." He started turning out his pockets, rumaging, re-organising until he pulled out a big leather bound book and dropped it on the small table with a heavy **thunk. **"There we go!" He annouced happily, and then at their stunned looks, "What?"

"I...Tha...How did that fit in there?" Sputtered Tails.

"Pockets." He grinned, " They're bigger on the inside." Whipping out his reading specs he started flipping through the dusty pages. "It was just here... right after the four headed spider beastie... but before your watery Chaos monster...where, where ,where are you?" He sang softly and then, " Ha! Here she is," Turning the book upside down the others blinked at the completed picture. " So this Celosia in her final form,eh? Nasty." He read the passage on the opposite page about his new foe.

"You don't have to tell us, Doctor. " Went Rouge . " Cliff notes; she's a bad ass, big time."

"Yeah, I got that. Says here she's the Goddess of Fire,one of the Order of Seven. Her brothers feared her lust for power that they made a sword like no other from the first rays of light that travelled through-out the you used last time, right?" The Freedom Fighter nodded. " OK... Hm...Well, how about that."

"What? What have you found?" Tails peeked at the page closely that his nose brush it. "What?"

"It says here that Celosia fought with her brothers before they imprisoned her. Something about a doomsday device hidden in the dark regions of deep space. A terrible demon with the power of all four elements was discovered, four of the Order engaged it in a fierce battle that went on for ten life times. They did defeat the beast by blinded it and scattering its eyes across the cosmos. But Celosia uncovered one of the locations before she died." He stopped suddenly and stood back, eyes narrowing.

" Why'd you stop? It was just getting good."

" Because I can read it." He said quietly. "It's being translated. Do you know what this means?"

"Nope."

Tails shrugged, " Don't have a clue. Sorry, Doctor."

Amy gasped, "Oh! I get it! I get it!"

"No, you don't." Rouge folded her arms and gave her a pointed glare.

" I do! It's being translated because it's about the Nazo Serpent and one of the Eyes is nearby. Namely the eye of Fire. That's right. Right?"The Doctor smirked at her, she stuck her tongue out at the bat. "See? I know some stuff. But what gets me is the **how**."

"Then allow me." The Doctor started pacing the small room, putting the pieces together. " The passage of the Nazo Serpent in this book has been written in old picture graphs, so old that the TARDIS didn't know where to begin. Remember this book came from the Lost Library,a place filled with all kinds of mystic powers and what-not. Now this is my guess... I think this book is suffering from anmesia. If it comes into a certain range of any of the Eyes it will **sense **it and start to translate about the Nazo Serpent's history."

" So, if we find the Eye of Water..." Whispered Rouge.

" We'll know alittle bit more about it and where it might be hiding." Finished Tails.

The Doctor grinned," Exactly."

Now they some kind of plan, Amy and Rouge poured over the book for any other references to other members of the Order of Seven and the other **elements** that the book mention, the Doctor and Tails huddled together in a corner the furthest away for a hasty decussion.

The fox quickly peeked over at Rouge before speaking in hushed tones," OK, Doctor, I want it plain and simple. You know a lot more about mystical powers and stuff, so tell me... What's happening to Sonic? Why could we see him as a ball of light? Is he OK?"

"Whoa! Hold your horses,little guy." Turning them around he put an arm around the cubs' shoulders. "Look, I'm 98 percent sure Sonic is fine. As for what's happening- I'm not sure but likely situation is that the protective shields of the golden ring are breaking down allowing Sonic's soul to show it self as a ball of light. The bad news is if the shields continue to fall apart then Sonic's condiction will be excelurated and we will lose him for good."

Behind them came a loud gasp and a **thump. **They turned back to find the book on the carpeted floor and, not Amy, but _**Rouge**_ staring at them looking like her whole world had fallen apart. Amy had one of those looks that could kill mixed with complete fear.

"Wh-what did you just say?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

There is only so much you can take before a repetitive dream can get really annoying. But sometimes because it is repeating it could be your sub-conscious trying to tell you something of vital importance. That being the case it brings us to where our missing blue heroic hedgehog was now...

Sonic looked up at the God-like giant panda looking at him with bright yellow eyes and a cruel smirk and rolled his eyes slowly skyward ( well,he would have if where he was **had **a sky.) he gave a shrug before turning and calmly walking the other way.

**"Where do you think you're going, rodent?"**

" I'm leaving. You know this has been fun, panda-boy, but I got things to do. Namely getting out of here and back to sanity."

**"There is no escape from Feist. Everything in this Zone is made for my amusement. And now I shall be amused by you and your foolish efforts to leave."**

"Maybe another time. Now... I've got friends to find and bad guys to fight. Bye!" He waved and continued walking. He didn't move more than a few meters when Feist popped up from the middle of the walkway. "Oh, now what?"

**" You must see that your friends have abandoned are stuck here, and if you think the Doctor will save you. He will not."** Sonic smirked once more.**"Yes. I know of the Doctor. The man who can change his face, the man who would let a whole planet burn to save his own is no friend to us. I have suffered at his hands like so many other higher beings." **Before Sonic could ask more the panda rose to his full height and folded his arms across his massive chest. His gaze bored into Sonic's, who stared back but then looked the other way when he knew Feist wasn't going to spill the beans. **" I sense that you are dirfting between the relms, hedgehog. If it makes you feel better soon you will be reunited with you body."** Sonic smiled a bit and carried on walking. After a while Feist sighed loudly.** "You are starting to bore me."**

Sonic sniffed, "Yeah, well, not much I can do. Just this road to travel on. If you were a **real **God you'd make me do some kind of test or something. You know, to keep you amused." There was glint in his green eyes that even Feist didn't miss.

The panda God nodded,** " Very well. If you wish to amuse me..."** He clicked his fingers. The path, save for the piece Sonic was standing on,vanished. In its place stood a big cube made up of green diamonds, there was just one entrance at the bottom. Feist clicked his fingers a second time and the cube floated twisting in mid-air.**"Enter the maze, display your skills, find the core and find your way out!"**

Sonic grinned, " Now that's more like it!"

* * *

Rouge stared at the Doctor her heart beating fast against her ribcage. She shifted her eyes to Tails who looked at his shoes. " What did you say?"

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, "I didn't want you two to find out this way. But seeing as you do I will be open. If my theory is correct Sonic is in great danger. The magic barriers holding his soul in Carla's metal body are seperating thus allowing his soul to slip out and appear as a ball of blue light, as we saw earlier. Now if the barriers continue to weaken-"

**SLAP!**

He staggered back clutching his reddening cheek, eyes stinging and jaw aching. Rouge had to be held back by Amy who was struggling to hold her steady. Her gaze quite clearly said: _**It's your own fault.**_

"Look I'm sorry,girls. I really am. Shadow thought it best-"

"Shadow? You mean he knew too?" Amy's hold relaxed slightly. "He kept it from us. From me?"

"Nice going, Doctor." Hissed Tails behind him, "Real smooth."

Rouge freed her self from Amy's grasp(the hedgehog didn't stop her), raced towards the door, wretched it open and marched into the main section of the church to where Shadow was talking to Midas and a couple of other locals. Hearing her footfalls the black hedgehog turned in greating only to stagger backwards in the same manner as the Doctor when her palm met his cheek.

"How could you!" She screamed. " I thought we were a team! How could you keep this from me? From Amy? You know how I feel about..." She stopped suddenly going pink, realising what she was about to say, her eyes widened.

" Which is the main reason why I didn't want to worry you." He replied simply.

Her face screwed up in anger, she went to hit him across the cheek again. This time he grabbed her wrist. "I challenge you!" She spat.

Shadow blinked, " You can't be serious."

Midas looked pleased for some reason. "Set up the ring. A challenge has be issued!"

The Doctor, Amy and Tails shared glances. Midas led Shadow and Rouge towards another side room, inside was a roughly built circular pen its sides the same height as the Doctor's shoulders. Around the pen ,already, stood a small crowd of portly looking locals( Mostly men) seeing the two animals glaring at each other they turned to a pale faced boy and started placing bets. The Doctor looked around and groaned loudly.

"Aw, nuts. I completely forgot about the local traditions."

"Which are? Ouch!" Amy rubbed her elbow when another bloke barged into her. "Watch it,mate!"

The Doctor edged his way to the front and rested his arms on the rough edges of the pen. " When a challenge is issued the two combatants face each other and fight until one is knocked out cold." Reaching down he took hold of Tails and hauled him up so he could sit in his shoulders. Amy used a old crate to stand up for a better view. "It's quite monstrous, if you ask me. But I suppose the main reason, normally,is honour."

"So... Those two are going to knock seven bells out of each other for honour?"

"Hm...It should be but I don't think it is between these two.I think it's deeper than that."

Inside the ring Shadow and Rouge stood facing each other. The bat eyed the black hedgehog and he did the same. Midas approached them and held out his hands.

"There will be no special powers. You will give up your fancy high-tech gear and fight with what the great Maker has given you. Shadow: you will surrender your gloves cuffed with power rings and jet shoes, Rouge: you will surrender your gloves and steel toed boots. Without them it will be a fair fight. Now take you positions." Once the pair had given him said clothing Midas scooted out the way and hopped over the top of the pen. "Ready? BEGIN!"

The crowd roared with approval and encouraging remarks. Rouge lunged forward with a punch to Shadow's jaw, he ducked and aimed a kick to her stomach. His foot ached on impact and only being sheilded by the thin fabric of his sock. Rouge stumbled, the wind knocked out of her, clutching her middle. Shadow took this moment to raced forward, catching her off-guard, boldly lifting her clean off her feet, she slapped at his arms to be let go but he was having none of it. His momentum took them to the pens' side. Rouge gasped as her back connected with the wall, she brought her legs up wrapping them securely around his waist her thighs squeezing hard.

Shadow growled against her cheek, "Tease."

She laughed,"Oh,please. Don't flatter your self." She bent down and bit him on the neck. **Hard**. Shadow yelped in pain, released her and stepped back wiping his neck for signs of blood. She took this moment to turn to the crowd. "Your move, creep." She winked, clapping her hands and bowing.

**Must not register on emotional level. **Shadow scanned the crowd and spotted the Doctor, Tails and Amy with looks of horror on their faces. The crowd started mumbling and edging backwards, even Rouge had stopped her posing and was now looking behind him. Confused he turned and his eyes widened. "What the-?"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. A figure, moving lighting fast,jumped the make-shift barrier. The crowd screamed and ran for the nearest exits. Not pausing the new arrival landed an upper-cut on Shadow, the black hedgehog heard his jaw crack and felt the ground as the back of his head bounced off it. From the corner of his eyes he saw Rouge go on the attack. She jumped and grabbed huge fistfulls of matted fur, holding on for dear life as the arm whipped around trying to flick her off.

The last thing he could remember clearly was the white bat screaming as she was flung over his head, the loud thud as she hit the pens' wall and a groan. The ground beneath him started to rumble with a familar rhythm. **EGG KNIGHTS! **Two strong hands grabbed him and hauled him to his feet**.**Though he fought to keep his eyes open he tried to sought out Amy in his hazy state. He heard her cries, heard Tails bravely shouting at what ever had attacked to back off and the Doctor struggling to reason with it but then suffering the same fate as Rouge with a thud and a sigh.

Some where in the chaos and before darkness claimed him for good. He faintly heard a roar of victory.

* * *

**If there are mistakes, I'm sorry. For some reason FF's spell checker is NOT working for me.**

**Nice little cameo from Feist from the Archie comics.**

**Little scene from the hit movie SHERLOCK HOLMES ( I LOVE that film!)**

**Next chapter is in the works and should be up shortly.**

**Until next time! M.x**


	8. Chapter 8

**I can't believe the last time I up-dated was so long ago! Whoops. Hope this chapter ties you over, dear readers.**

* * *

Chapter 8.

It was the hard, cold floor that roused the Doctor from his slumber. He gingerly pushed himself into a sitting position and looked around in the dim light. He was in a cell-plain and simple-a single cell complete with bars and a bench for a bed. He banged his head against the wall and groaned loudly.

"Nice to hear you're up at last, Doctor." The Doctor tilted his head slightly to the right. Shadow, lounging on his cot bloodied and bruised, raised a dark brow. "Enjoy your nap?"

"Where are we?" He managed to croak out.

"Eggman's Base of Operations." Amy was sitting next to the dark hedgehog. She pushed her hair from her face. "We're all here." She jerked a thumb towards the far corner. Rouge and Tails were also seated on cots on the other side of the cell. The bat was sitting cross-legged with her head drooped and Tails was lying on his bunk on his belly, leaning on his elbows and twin tails whirring.

"Any news on Sola?" The Doctor asked. Everyone was silent which meant it wasn't good news in his book. "What's up?"

Before anyone could reply the main door opened and Eggman himself, waddled down the row of cells. He stopped in front of them and clasped his hands behind his back. "Doctor..."

"Doctor."

"This way, please." Eggman pressed the release switch to the cell. The Doctor struggled to his feet and strolled out the door calmly. Eggman gestured for him to walk in front, the Doctor raised a questioning brow, "Please, I just want to chat, Doctor to Doctor."

A short while later the Doctor found himself standing opposite Eggman with a surgical trolley between them. Whoever was on the trolley was covered with a white sheet, but seeing as it looked like a very small person with big feet and hands, the Doctor had a sneaking suspicion who it was. And when Eggman held the edge of the sheet and pulled it back his suspicions were spot on.

Sola was nearly unrecognizable. She was battered and stripped down to the light-weight alloy she was made from. The only reason the Doctor knew it was her, was her right leg that was blue and ended with a red clawed foot. The Doctor stepped forward, slipping his hand into his pocket to withdraw his screw-driver only to come up empty. He narrowed his eyes at Eggman.

"I couldn't risk you getting out. Your things are here, " He produced a plastic tray, in it was the Doctor's belongings : the sonic-screwdriver, the physic paper, his glasses, the old stethoscope he burrowed many years ago and a load of other stuff he didn't know he had. The only thing, the most important thing missing, was the TARDIS key. "Oh, yes...We've kept that." said Eggman, clearly seeing the Doctor's face, "We can't get in at the moment, but it's just a matter of time. Now, Doctor, to the matter at hand...Is Sonic still in there?"

The Doctor put his glasses on, plugged his ears with the buds of the stethoscope and placed the flat end on Sola's chest plate. He closed his eyes and tried to listen, he heard nothing, brow furrowing he tried again getting the same result. Ripping the buds from his ears, he took the sonic and scanned the cat from top to bottom. Checking the out-come he blinked slowly, slipped off his specs and stepped back from the table.

"Doctor? Is Sonic still in there?"

"...No. There's nothing. Sonic is gone. "

"Are you lying to me?"

The Doctor frowned, "Why would I? I've nothing to gain. I've no TARDIS, no means of escape. You hold all the aces. Sonic is not in there, he's gone!" The look on Eggman's face made him slowly blinked again. "You wanted him out. You think he can help, but how? And why?"

Eggman sighed, "Though I hate to admit it, I have some respect for the blue rodent. Sonic's the only one to ever beat both Celosia and Dark Gaia." A smirk. "There is a very slim chance he's still around. The unstable Chaos energies, that kept his soul trapped inside the feline robot, might be enough to give him the boost he needs."

"Uh...What you talking about?" The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose. "I hate riddles."

"What I'm trying to say is..." Eggman told the Doctor his theory. The Doctor listened and then grinned when Eggman finished.

* * *

Elsewhere in the throne-room, the Dark Were-hog was taking a nap. He whimpered in his sleep and curled deeper into a ball. His brows screwed up, as if he was in pain, and he growled. From a corner a blue mist floated towards him, it whirled above him and then shot down, like a bolt of blue lighting, right into his head. The Were-hog threw up his massive paws and tried to claw out the invading force filling his mind. His whole body glowed bright purple and then bright blue and back again for a few seconds. The light show died down and he whimpered softly again, slowly raising his head and opened his eyes.

But this time instead of being a sickly pink color, they were green...A brilliant emerald green. Dazed and confused the Were-hog stumbled to his feet and lumbered towards the huge mirror he knew stood at one side of the throne room. Standing to his full height he peered closely…Yep, his eyes were now green. He stood still, the new force waited inside to be pushed out but nothing happened.

Sonic grinned showing his fangs. He could now control his Were-hog persona like before. Dark Gaia was still there, he could feel it, but the time being exposed to the different mystic energies as Sola had given him the mental boost he needed to bury the dark soul until it was needed. Sonic closed his eyes and opened up to Dark Gaia for just a second. He thought broody things, dark feelings, death and destruction. When he opened this time he was pleased to find his eyes looked blood-shot, and his green orbs had darkened and were now purple. He hoped nobody would notice the slight change.

The door to the room opened and he jumped in surprise, "Oh, there you are!" Celosia smiled sweetly at him and settled herself on the cushions of her throne. She patted her knees, Sonic narrowed his eyes, _**what now?**_ Celosia pouted at him and held out her arms. _**Oh!**_ She wanted him to come over. Getting down on all four he plodded over and sat at her feet. She leaned forward. "How's my ickle wolfie?" A cool hand patted the top of his head roughing up his quills. "What? No hello for your kin?" Celosia looked closely at him and pouted. Acting quickly the Were-hog nudged her hand that now cupped his cheek and made soft growling noises. It seemed to perk her up and she tickled behind his ears. "Guess what I've got?" He shrugged and she grinned pulling out what she was hiding behind her back. It was a huge leather bounded book. His eyes widened, "That's right!" She giggled gleefully. "We have the book, the Time Lord and his machine, and…this!" She held out her hand. On her ring finger sat a very plain looking bronze ring with a small blue bead embedded in the metal. Sonic gave her, what he hoped, was a bored expression. It seemed to do the trick; Celosia huffed again and brought round her wooden staff. "Watch." She murmured, taking off the ring and holding it up towards the glowing red orb sitting at the top of the knobbly stick. As the two objects grew closer something odd happened: the bead on the ring started to sparkle. Sonic drew his head closer and watched in amazement as the tiny stone grew and grew until it was the same size as the Eye of Iblis. Slowly realization dawned on him: the ring housed the second Eye, the Eye of Water. Celosia caught his bemused look and grinned. "The Eye of Ula, my brother. In our hands at last." With careful fingers she placed it in the hole below the Eye of Iblis. The two orbs hummed in perfect harmony, she sighed softly. "After that I need to rest. Leave me and go to the Vault."

Sonic bowed his head and lumbered away. Once in the hallway, and clear from her eyes, he frowned. It didn't look good. Eggman and the Goddess had two of the four Eyes needed to wake the Nazo Serpent _**and**_ they had the book to tell them how to do it. Crouching down to all fours Sonic growled and took off in the opposite direction of the Vault. He had to do something, _**anything**_ to slow the process. Making his way along the brightly lit passageway Eggman's voice boomed over the speakers;

"**Attention all personnel and Egg Knights, we will be shortly jumping using Chaos Control to the planet of Azaliea, the last known location of the third Eye... The Eye of Gaia."**

Sonic skidded to a halt. His face spilt into a toothy grin and he felt like howling with joy. Maybe there was a way to slow the process after-all.

* * *

_**Not much of an up-date. Kind of lost my way with this fic but I made a promise to myself to finish it and I will because the ending is TOTALLY worth the wait.**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Dear readers, I haven't forgotten you or this fic. I've been busy with other fics and this has drifted onto the back-burner. Hopefully I have redeemed my-self with this chapter, and if anyone's got a TARDIS can I borrow it?**

* * *

Chapter 9.

The planet of Azaliea was one big, never-ending jungle. The ground was covered with the softest layer of moss; the blue sky almost lost to the high and dense canopy of the trees. Thankfully the canopy had other uses, in the dark shadows a shape lurked and waited, suddenly in the distance came a faint high pitch whistle. Ears drew back and a growl passed white teeth as another shape, this one more stream–lined and human looking, broke through the bushes and into the small clearing. A second later, after checking the coast was clear, the lone shape was joined by a second and a third and so on until five human shapes stood in the middle of the clear space. The hulking mass of fur and fangs crouched, ready to sneak away, when a sixth human appeared.

_**Oh shoot!**_

The sixth, looking very different in a brown suit and cream sneakers, put on a pair of thick rimmed glasses and held up a thin tube. He turned on the spot, the whistling picked up again and the shadow ducked further into the covers of the bushes. After doing a couple of short circuits of the clearing the brown-suited human stopped, lowered the tube and sighed.

"REPORT DOCTOR."

The Doctor shrugged, "What do you want me to say? It's wasn't my idea to be paired up with him, it was your Master's! It was _**your**_ fault you lost him and you blaming me!" The group of Egg Knights raised their guns aiming right at his chest; "Whoa!" the Doctor waved his arms. "Hold on… a tiny tick…a tiny whiney tick…"

The shadow watched as the Doctor tried to delay the metal men, failing miserably with each passing second. They rolled green eyes sky-wards at his bumbling. **Enough!** They decided, crouching down, ready for action.

The Doctor had just enough sixth-sense to get out of the way as something big and power burst through the trees on the opposite side of the clearing and smack into the nearest EK. The rest of the unit turned away from the Doctor to take down the attacker only to be knocked back in numerous directions, letting out mechanical screams as they bodies struck the tress surrounding them. When the fighting was over the Were-hog stood in the middle of the clearing, puffing heavily and surveying the damage he'd done. The Doctor made the basic mistake of stepping on a twig, thus snapping it and drawing the beast attention to him.

The Were-hog turned suddenly, teeth bared, but upon seeing the Doctor relaxed. He walked over to him and, to the Doctor complete surprise, crouched beside him and jerked his large head backwards. The Doctor blinked, "Are you sure?" he muttered stepping back, slipping his specs into his pockets. The creature huffed and pawed the ground nodding. "O…K…" cautiously the Time Lord approached and lay an unsteady hand in Sonic's head. The Were-hog huffed again and bumped his hand. The Doctor looked down at him; he looked back and then swiftly rolled his green eyes skyward. "Look, I'm nervous alright. Not ridden a hedgehog before." Sonic shoulders shook with silent laughter, the Doctor flushed realizing what he'd said. "Oh, shut up!" He hissed swinging a leg up and over Sonic's back, settling comfortably as he could (minding his back quills) and rested his hands hesitantly on heavily muscled shoulders. Sonic suddenly leaned forward on his front legs causing the Doctor to yell out in surprise and wrapped his arms more securely around him. "You did that on purpose!" Sonic chuckled again, looked back at him and grinned with a wink. The Doctor scowled and then laughed too. "OK, let's try again."

The Were-hog waited until he was seated and then reared up, a howl left his throat and he took off, dashing through the dense forests as fast as he could. The Doctor hung onto the bulky shoulders as hard as he could, his fingers threading through the soft yet thick fur there. Sonic made some sort of noise (a purr maybe?) and increased his speed. The scenery flew by in a blur a green, the wind whistle all around them as they journeyed forward, where to the Doctor had no idea but it seemed that Sonic did. The whistling around them grew in volume and changed in tempo. The Doctor chanced a look back, frowned for a second and leaned closer to Sonic's ear.

"We got EK's!" he shouted. Sonic grunted, ducking his head and raced on. The Doctor followed, curling himself as close as he dared without falling off. Soon the area around them was spotted with black. The Time Lord whipped his head this way and that, "They can fly? Oh…_**Brilliant**_!" Beneath him Sonic gave a growl of annoyance. "Sorry, got carried away there." A quick head count, "There's maybe ten of 'em. You got a pla-aahh!" Sonic stopped unexpectedly making him fly over hedgehog's head and land in a heap a few meters away. "_**OW!**_" Before he could get up the Doctor found himself trapped under fur and muscle. He looked up and gulped: staring down at him was the Were-hog who narrowed green eyes. He smiled back, "I'm fine." Sonic smirked in response and then growled deeply, turned swiftly on all fours and stood his ground against the group of EK's stomping towards them. From his place under the Were-hog the Doctor watched as beast and machine faced off: the EK's raising their guns and demanding they return to Eggman, Sonic slamming his palms against the ground and roaring while scratching the ground behind him with his spiked trainers.

It was this that drew the Doctor's attention from the face off. He raised himself onto an elbow to get a look and his moth opened in surprise. During the display of macho-ness Sonic had drawn a wonky arrow with the toe of his shoe. The Doctor followed said arrow and found it headed towards the trees. He glanced back, Sonic caught his gaze and winked, he nodded in understanding and counted to three in his head before moving. The Doctor wriggled out from under Sonic as the Were-hog charged forward with a thunderous howl keeping the EK's attention solely on him while the Doctor made his escape to the woody cover.

The Doctor dived behind a fallen tree, lying face down with his hands over his head as laser shots flew every-where. He curled into a tight ball hearing the unmistakable sounds of a fierce scuffle: more shots being fired, bodies hitting the ground or trees, shouts and yells…and then the one sound he didn't want to hear…

A high-pitched whimper of pain.

"SONIC!" He cried, completely forgetting he was meant to be hiding, scrambling over the tree trunk and rushing to the clearing, coughing and spluttering as the air grew thick with smoke. "Sonic!" he called again hands stretched out in front of him. Wandering in the smoke cloud he gasped in surprised hitting something solid and moving, "Please be Sonic…please be Sonic…" he muttered under his breath. For an answer a wet nose nudged his finger tips and an equally wet tongue lapped the back of his hand. The Time Lord fell to his knees, grinning, wrapping his arms around the Were-hog in a friendly hug while nuzzling into his neck. As the dust started to settle he pulled away slowly taking in Sonic's appearance: apart from being slightly winded, the hero seemed uninjured. "Are you OK? I thought I heard…" He looked down and his eyes widened, "You're hurt!" Reaching for a muscled arm he pulled out the sonic-screwdriver and ran its blue tip along the wound.

"It's nothing." Said a gruff voice.

"Don't say that, just hold-" The Doctor nearly dropped the sonic tool in shock as he looked up open mouthed. Sonic looked back: a grin slowly snaking it way over his lips. "You…I-I mean…_**WHAT**_!"

Sonic leaned closer, the tip of his nose brushing the Doctor's, "It's just a scratch, Doc. Heal in no time, now let's go." The Were-hog turned and headed back towards the clearing leaving the Time-Lord squatting on the ground, screwdriver in hand and mouth still hanging open. "Yo! You coming?"

"But how can you…I-I mean you still 'gruh-argh' with the fangs and such." Sonic tossed something over his shoulder, it rolled along the ground stopping at the Doctor's feet. The Doctor studied the charred lump of metal and then ran the sonic over it, "Oh…They broke the harness. What does that mean?" Pocketing the sonic he scooped up the burnt harness, got to his feet and trotted after the Were-hog. "Well?"

Sonic looked at him and then his trade-mark smirk found its way on his muzzle, "It means, that while I'm still in this form _**I**_ have control of Dark Gaia, just like before. I can't turn back until we find the Eye of Earth, which should be around here somewhere according to the book." The Doctor's shocked face came back, Sonic huffed and started to explain, "Before we teleported down here the book started translating, and Celosia _**loves**_ to read to her brother, I remember every-word." The Doctor nodded, "There should be a temple or shrine nearby, that's where I was heading before the run-in with the Knights, and that's where we're going now. But first…" Sonic snatched the burnt harness from the Doctor and suddenly shot up a tree, the Doctor could just make out a muffled yell and Sonic jumped back down with a smug grin. "One thing I love about is form…" he flexed his arms, "I can throw for miles! We can look for the Eye while the others are on a wild goose chase. Cool, huh?"

"Yeah… uh, cool." The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels, "So…which way?" Sonic pointed to some-where off in the distance. In the light of the setting Sun dark shapes appeared. The Time-Lord nodded and they set off at a steady pace into the trees.

* * *

The Doctor had no idea how much time had pass when he opened his eyes. He remembered walking a lot until the sun started going down and then finding a strange rock formation/cave that seemed to have appeared out of no-where…oh, and he seemed to have picked up a nice cozy, fuzzy blanket from some-where…

Wait, what?

"Sleep well?"

Slowly turning around inch by inch the Doctor found him-self face to face with a half-awake Sonic. The blue hero's green eyes met the Doctor's own brown, slightly nervous, ones and he grinned tightening his hold around the Time-Lords middle.

"Uh…Well…I…" The Doctor cleared his throat and tried again, "We…um…"

Sonic chuckled deeply, "We fell asleep after finding the Eye, Doc. It's over there. See?" He nodded his head back and the Doctor looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, in the middle of the rock-face, was a small crude shrine. Perched on a pedestal and glowing a soft green sat a perfectly round stone. The Doctor made a move to sit up but Sonic held him still, "No, moving. Not done yet." The Doctor raised a brow and looked closely at the shrine, it was only then he noticed the thin lines of light coming from the base of the stone, down the front of the shrine, across the floor connecting to Sonic's back. "Spirit of Gaia going home." He grinned, "And good riddance!"

The Doctor grinned back, "You're amazing, you know that?" Sonic shrugged, "Well you are." The Were-hog sighed again, his eyes slowly drifting shut. "I'm going to out-side for a bit, OK?" A nod. The Doctor extracted himself from Sonic's grasp and patted his head affectionately. "Back soon." Sonic grumbled a reply. The Doctor smiled softly making his way out of the cave and into the blinding Sun-light.

"Doctor! Look out!"

Before the Doctor had time to react he felt a sharp, piercing pain across the face and was knocked to the ground. "What..?" A shadow blocked the Sun's rays and he looked up, his eyes widened, "You?"

Celosia stood, staff in hand, and fangs showing in a sadistic grin. Behind the Goddess, to the Doctor's dismay, stood the others guarded by a group of EK's. "The Eye, Doctor. Give me the Eye or you will die." When he shook his head she lashed out again: this time using her hands. Her talons soiled quickly with his blood, the front of his suit darkened as he fell to his knees screaming. "Give me the Eye!" She screeched.

The Doctor grunted as he fell. He could feel the poison from her claws making its way around his body, it would reached his hearts in a matter of seconds and he would die. He looked at his hands, knowing what he would find and nodded sadly. Slowly and painfully he got back onto his knees and then his feet, swaying slightly. Celosia, confused and scared, raised her staff again. Behind her the Freedom Fighters let out a collective gasp.

Feeling the change already beginning the Doctor grinned sadly at the others, "I'm so sorry. I'm... I'm regenerating." Throwing his head back with a hoarse shout he threw his arms out and exploded in a fire-ball of golden light…

* * *

**Another cliff-hanger!**

**A long one but might trim it down later. Feel free to R and R.**

**M.x**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10.

The clearing exploded with golden light as the Doctor threw his arms and head back with a shout. The powers of regeneration coursing through his veins like white-hot fire. _**It's not my time yet…I'm not done…**_ he kept repeating in his head.

He let out a final scream and, after another brilliant flash of light, it was all over. The Time-Lord fell to his knees once again pale faced and sweaty. Quickly he raised his hands to eye level, and then ran them over his face and up to his hair, which he tugged, a little too painfully. "I'm…still me? I don't-"

"What are you doing? Stop! Stop right now, rodent! Do you hear me? I said stop!"

Behind him the light was still flickering. The Doctor rolled onto his back, his mouth falling open at what he saw: the rest of the regeneration energy was swirling around the Were-hog, who laughed as it rolled of his quills and muscles quickly engulfing his body in a ball of golden energy. The ball grew, shimmered and crackled. Sonic curled into him-self, grinning at his friends, "You guys might wanna cover your ears." The Freedom Fighters nodded and dived behind any cover they could find peeking out to watch. Celosia looked around, confused, gripping her staff tightly (though the Doctor could see her hands shaking.) and the EKs stood still, awaiting orders that would never come. The noise grew deafening; the ball continued to expand and then, with a final muffled roar from the Were-Hog, exploded. The Doctor yelled in surprised curling up to protect him-self, the Freedom Fighters dived back behind their cover and the Goddess screamed in outrage. The whole area was bathed in the light before it died down. When it had Celosia was no-where to be seen and all that was left of the EKs were piles of sparkling black dust and smoky foot-prints.

The Doctor slowly opened his eyes to the damage and looked around the smoking crater left behind, what he assumed was a very powerful Chaos Blast. When they finally focused they met a pair of red shoes. From the shoes he followed blue legs up, past a peach coloured belly and found forest-green eyes staring back. He took the hand offered and got up onto his knees. The owner of the eyes smiled, making them twinkle in the sun-light, and nodded. The Doctor laughed out loud and lunged forward enveloping the newly returned Blue Blur. "I can't begin…Did you know?"

Sonic laughed along with him. "I don't either. But it did and I'm me again!"

"Sonic?" Tails and the others nervously crept out of their hiding places. They stepped over burning EK foot-prints and came to a stop a few meters away. The blue hedgehog let go of the Doctor, who got up and stepped to the side, and looked at each of his friends in turn…

And smiled.

Amy was first: she ran forward with a happy cry, wrapping her arms around his neck and weeping into his shoulder until Sonic had to pry her away. Tails was next: the little cub hugged his best bud tightly around the middle, nuzzling into his chest; Sonic messed up his fringe in return. Shadow followed: he approached Sonic wearily, not looking at him at first until Sonic sighed. When he did look up Sonic smirked softly with a wink. Shadow smirked back and nodded. Rouge was last: the white bat grasped both his hands in hers planting a small kiss on each cheek, with a whispered, "Welcome home."

"Good to be home." He whispered back squeezing her hands. A light pink dusting appeared on her cheeks and she nodded before joining Tails and Amy, who were talking animatedly with the Doctor about what they had just witnessed. The blue hero sighed with a warm smirk on his muzzle.

"It's good you've returned to us, faker, even-though the way you did was very risky, not to mention stupid. Did you know it would work?" Shadow stood beside him, and though Sonic couldn't see his expression he reckoned it was full of concern.

"No. I did what I've always done: jump first, ask questions later." Sonic faced him with a smirk, "And guess what? It worked! I'm here and I'm me again. Everything's fine."

Shadow frowned, "You and I both know that's not true. You're on borrowed time, hedgehog." He noticed the Doctor strolling towards them. Quickly turning so he had his back to the Time–Lord his arm grazed his blue counter-part's softly. When Sonic looked into his ruby gaze it was, as he had guessed, full of worry. "Do not waste it." He murmured walking away to re-join the others.

"Did I interrupt a moment?" Asked the Doctor noticing the pinkish glow on the blue hedgehogs' face. Sonic shook his head. "Ah…I see…" He gave a knowing smile. Sonic's face grew pinker as he glanced down suddenly becoming _**very**_ interested in his shoes. The Doctor leaned close, "Don't worry," he tapped the side of his nose with a finger. "I won't tell anyone." Sonic smiled a little in gratitude, the Doctor straightened and cleared his throat, "Alright, troops! Ugh, gotta find a better word…_**Anyway**_ to business: it seems The Goddess has done a bunk, the slippery little minx. At last count she has two Eyes to our one and that's not good. We have our dear Blue Blur back and she's lost a good number of EK's and her brute-force of a brother. The bad guys have an intergalactic Battle-Ship…"

"And we do not." Shadow pointed out with folded arms, "The Goddess and Eggman still have your TARDIS, Doctor, or have you forgotten?"

The Doctor beamed at them, "Oh my broody little black one," Shadow growled playfully at him. "You forget that Eggman gave me back my screwdriver." Taking said gadget from his pocket he twirled it between his fingers, the others looked blankly at him. "If I take this and the Eye of Gaia…" From his back quills Sonic tossed him the fully charged green orb while the others stared wide eyed, "and do this," lifting the Eye to his lips the Doctor blew on it, to the Freedom Fighters astonishment, a fine cloud of sparkling golden dust flew from his mouth coating the Eye. "And this..." Holding the Eye up he gave it a blast of sonic energy. The Eye glowed yellow and then faded back to green, the shrill whistle of the sonic died down and the group looked around. Finding nothing they turned as one towards the Time-Lord.

"And that was supposed to do _**what**_ exactly?" Asked Rouge.

The Doctor just grinned, "Donna would be so proud of me. When is a key not a key?"

The bat shrugged, "I dunno. When's it's not?"

Another grin, "Exactly! Eggman's key is a fake, doesn't open anything. _**My**_ key is safe inside the TARDIS herself. And speaking of which…" It was quiet and then they heard it, a sound they had grown to love, a sound like a hundred singing elephants. Next to the Doctor a very familiar blue shape faded into existence. The TARDIS became solid and landed with a groan; the Doctor ran up to his machine and hugged it. "Oh, my old thing! Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" He pressed a kiss to the front doors, "Forgive me, darling! I'm sorry, so sorry!"

"Uh…Doc? Are you kissing a wooden box?" Sonic's smirk was back. Amy and Tails hid their smiles behind their hands, Rogue was shaking her head in disbelief and Shadow just raised a brow.

The Doctor turned and gave them all a challenging look, "Problem?"

"No! No problem!" They shouted, waving their arms. With a huff the Doctor safely pocketed his sonic and the Eye of Earth and stepped back from the double doors.

"So…" Said Sonic, coming up to his side, "how you gonna get in without your key?"

The Doctor tossed him a smirk, "Like this," Raising his hand he snapped his fingers together. With a whine the doors opened bathing the group in warm orange light. "Well, shall we?"

Amy and Tail ran into the TARDIS together with big grins on their faces, weaving in and out of the coral pillars and laughing childishly. Shadow, still cautious of the time machine, slowly walked up the entry ramp running his finger-tips over the railing. The TARDIS hummed softly and he smiled shyly, taking a seat on the battered pilot chair. Rouge took a running leap and flew through the open doors circling the pillars until she reached the balconies. Finding her favourite item of clothing (namely the Doctor's old scarf) waiting for her she wrap it around herself with a smile and settled into a comfortable position.

Sonic watched his friends enter the blue box utterly speechless. The Doctor paused at the doors and held out his hand, "Well, come on, then!" Sonic slowly took the offered limb and was pulled through the double doors, as soon as he crossed the threshold the doors snickered shut behind him making him jump. The Doctor chuckled softly, "Seems she doesn't want to lose you again, Sonic. You're trapped here now."

"Um… thank-you?" The TARDIS cooed happily, flickering the lights. Sonic allowed himself to be towed to the main console where the Doctor let go and started rummaging underneath for something, something very important. "You need help?"

"No! No-No! It's here somewhere…just need to…" Around them the chattering grew louder and more garbled. After a good few minutes the Doctor growled, scrambling out from under the console, a little too fast and thus smacking his head on it. With an alien curse he stood, sucking in a big breath. "Right then you lot!" He shouted, the others stopped talking at once. "That's better. Now, seeing as the Goddess has the book about the Eyes it's safe to assume that it's only a matter of time before she has the last one. Before you start, Shadow: No, we cannot follow her, we don't know where the last Eye is…but we _**do**_ know where the resting place of the Nazo Serpent is likely to be and we should head there instead."

"WHAT!"

"You know where it is?"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

The Doctor flapped his hands about, "OI! Shut it!" Four of the five glared at him, he sighed, "Look, it's just an educated guess and to confirm it…we turn to you blue hedgehog." Five sets of eyes fixed on Sonic who backed up and bumped into the console. The Doctor reached under the console and pulled out a wired up crash-helmet. "Sonic, you've seen this before. I used it on Shadow to tell us the location of the Lost Library, do you remember?" Sonic slowly nodded, "Good boy. I need you to let the TARDIS scan your mind. We need any information about the Nazo Serpent that Celosia managed to decipher from _**Dark Astrology: The Lost and Forgotten.**_ Do you understand?"

"I…I understand." Nervously he glanced at his friends, "If it's alright with you, Doc, I'd like to be just us."

The Doctor blinked, "Oh? Oh, of course! I just need to put the Earth Eye in the Labs, and I'm sure the others have things to do before the big fi—"

"No. I mean…" Sonic nodded towards the central pillar, "just me and her."

The Doctor's eyes widen in surprise, "Ohhh! OK, I get you now." The Time-Lord jerked his head towards the doors leading to the inner sanctum. The four friends looked blankly at him and then each-other before all going "OH!" and filing out as quickly as they were able. Only Shadow paused to look back, the Doctor nodded encouragingly and he reluctantly followed the others. He turned to Sonic, "Ready?" he asked holding up the helmet.

"Don't have a choice, do I?" The Doctor shook his head flicking switches and pushing buttons. Sonic sighed deeply. "OK…let's do it." The helmet was clipped into place. "So…How's this thing work?"

"I've set you up. When-ever you're ready just flick that switch there." He pointed to button with a spiral design on it. "A word of warning: if there's something you don't want her to see, put up a door and lock it."

"Gonna be a lot of doors then." The blue hedgehog joked. The Doctor didn't smile, "What's wrong?"

"I'm sure it's nothing…TEA!" He suddenly blurted out making Sonic jump. "I'll make you a nice cup of Tea. Tea solves everything…Though I'm not so sure about…" The rest of his sentence was cut off as the TARDIS let out a loud, complaining whine. "Yes! I heard you!" The Doctor grinned sheepishly at him, "She's all yours, just be gentle with her."

Sonic smirked, "Don't worry. I will." The Doctor rolled his eyes with an amused snort and left them to it. Sonic counted to three in his head and then flicked the spiral switch. He sat comfortably on the pilot chair and grunted a second later feeling the TARDIS probing his mind;_** this isn't so bad…oops!**_ "Sorry, lady," he quickly put up a door; snickering feeling her annoyance, "some things are private." _**Not to mention a little too naughty for an old gal like you.**_ He smirked at her embarrassment. A big yawn left his lips and he slouched against the cushions, one arm draped over the back of the chair and the other on the arm.

Soon Sonic found him-self in a battle of wits with the TARDIS, her annoyance growing with each door he put up. His laughter, after yet another locked door appeared, was cut short when a sharp pain shot through his body. The TARDIS gave a low hum, sending soothing tingles his way. Sonic smiled tiredly at the console in relief as the pain slowly faded away and settled back in the chair, yawning again.

Unknown to Sonic and the TARDIS, the hand that was hidden behind the chair faded in and out of existence while glowing softly with left-over regeneration energy.

* * *

**Hope that's OK until next time. Hugs to those who get the Sonic Easter Egg!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11.

The Doctor leaned back from the TARDIS screens, pocketing his specs and mugging his chin. He'd just finished looking over the result of Sonic's MIT scan. The final prognosis was not good. Not good at all.

He set the time machine to automatic, letting her drift through the Time Vortex to her hearts content, a chance to relax and re-charge before the big show-down when they landed at the home of the Nazo Serpent.

The Doctor shivered recalling the name that flickered on-screen: _**The Black Asteroid**_ and with good reason. The region of space where it resided was an area that even the Time Lords didn't dare go. The area was a very weak spot for any kind of Spacey-Wacey, Timey-Whimey stuff. If you wanted to, you could stop time there forever, trapping your enemy in a time-less prison.

With a sigh the Time Lord straightened, shrugging off his ruined jacket and leaving the Control Room in search of a bed-room where he could change. Now, the Doctor knew his ship like the back of his hand, so he was a little stunned to find him-self standing in the corridor that held the sleeping quarters belonging to his companions. He was about to head the other way when the second door to his right softly clicked open. Always the curious he peered through the gap and blinked spotting the black and purple décor of Rouge.

The white bat was oblivious to him and was packing her ruck-sack that sat on the bed. She was folding her long woollen coat, the same one she wore at The Lost Library, tucking it into the already stuffed bag when she stopped suddenly. Slowly she sat down, her turquoise eyes narrowing as she pulled something towards her.

The Doctor's own eyes widened when she flipped open the gift box and pulled out the item inside.

It was a long, stripy scarf in her colours of purple and black with pink fringes at the ends. Rouge blushed a perfect pink, holding the scarf to her chest she whispered, "Thank-you."

The Doctor stepped away as the TARDIS hummed in response, softly closing the door and opening another one: this time to his left. When the Doctor peaked inside he recognised the pink and cream furnishings of Amy Rose.

Amy was dancing along to the radio as she packed, her pink head bobbing in time with the music. She came to her bed and stopped like Rouge. On the flowered covers was an identical box wrapped with a red ribbon. The pink hedgehog lifted the lid carefully and her eyes widened taking out a large leather bound book.

She blushed too as she read the title. "I was gonna take it back…one day." She turned the book in her hands with a head-shake but smiling anyways as she sat down and began to read. From his place by the door the Doctor could just make out the title picked out in golden letters: _**Sonic and the Black Knight—Collector's Edition.**_

"I take it this was your idea?" The Doctor quickly stood and turned finding Shadow wearing a thunderous expression. The black hedgehog stormed forwards and shoved something into his hands. "Well…is it?"

The Doctor looked at the silver framed photo in his palms: it was of a man and a young woman. The man looked just like Eggman, only his whiskers were grey and not ginger. The girl was blue-eyed and fair haired. The older version of Eggman was seated at a Lab table of some kind while the girl was standing behind him with a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know who these people are. Do you?"

Shadow snatched the photo back and looked at it, his expression softened a little. "Gerald Robotnik and his grand-daughter Maria. They were my family on board The ARK. When I lost my memory I thought…I…"

"The TARDIS gave you that because they are important to you, Shadow. They are, as you said, your family. In giving you this special gift she's letting you know that you are part of _**her**_ family and hopes that one day you'll feel the same."

Shadow blinked, his fingertips ghosting over the glass, "Maybe…Maybe one day." Meeting the Doctor's gaze the dark hedgehog smirked slightly, "I better help Amy with her packing. Knowing her she's trying to sneak away some alien body wash or something." With a nod he left, but the Doctor noticed that he patted the wall panel beside Amy's door before he entered.

The Doctor scratched his cheek heading down the corridor. The TARDIS opened another door, but this time the room inside was blank: just a double bed, a single wardrobe and a connecting door that led to the bathroom. He muttered his thanks, closing the door behind him, dumping his jacket on the bed, unknotting his tie, shedding his torn and bloodied shirt before heading to en-suite to wash-up and change. He reappeared half an hour later refreshed, wiping the last of the shaving cream off his face when he stopped in the doorway.

Sonic sat on the bed, the Doctor's shirt in his hands, at his cough the blue hedgehog looked up eyes widening and a blush covering his muzzle taking in his current state of un-dress. "I…I didn't know this was your room."

The Doctor shook his head with a smile, draping the towel over his shoulders. "It's not. Just a spare." He strolled over to the wardrobe in search of a clean shirt, "You get lost?" He asked finding a familiar sky-blue shirt and slipping it on but not doing up the buttons. When Sonic didn't answer he looked over his shoulder, a frown appearing on his face seeing Sonic sitting with his back to him, "What's wrong?"

Sonic shrugged, "It's probably just me being silly. But…"

"In my experience, when someone says '_**but' **_it's never a good thing." Flinging the damp towel to the floor the Doctor sat down on the other side and reached over to squeeze the hedgehog's shoulder. His brown eyes were serious, "Tell me what's wrong."

Sonic turned around, his eyes were down-cast, "I'm not right. I was with Tails at the in-door racing track, he was testing the new bit the TARDIS gave him for his Go-Kart, and…" He huffed rubbing a hand over his eyes. "I blanked out. Right near the finish line. One minute I'm on my feet, and the next second I'm sparked out on the floor with Tails standing over me muttering and shaking his head like I've done something wrong." Sonic lifted his head; faint salty traces ran down his cheeks, the image broke the Doctor's hearts. "I came to find you but you weren't in the Control-Room so I had a look around, and ended up here…" his voice broke off with a soft whimper, the ruined shirt fell from his fingers as he reached up to grabbed his head. "It hurts Doctor. It's like I'm all jumbled up inside. There's gotta be something you can do. Please, Doctor," Lowering his hands he looked the Time-Lord head on, his green eyes flashed gold. "Help me…"

The Doctor covered the hedgehog's hands with his own, "Sonic, you've got to fight this. You took regeneration energy from me. That's only happened once before, with Donna, resulting in a biological metacrisis. _**Look at me!**_" Grasping the sides of Sonic's head the Doctor tilted his head up so they were eye to eye. "Sonic, you have to fight this. You're becoming something else, something new. I can't help you the same way I helped Donna; your mind is too fragile." Sonic's eyes were still gold: his hands were now glowing. "Fight it! Use the mystical energies that binded you to this realm as Sola to find a balance. Sonic _**please**_…"

"I…I…" With a shuddering breath Sonic's eyes closed and he went limp in the Doctor's hold.

The Doctor gently set the sleeping hedgehog down on the bed. After he finished dressing he took the screwdriver from his pockets to do a quick scan. His hadn't even started it when the sonic bleeped in refusal. He frowned at it and took a quick glance at the readings. "Now, that's not right. Why are you doing that?" He took the sonic and slapped it against his palm, it whined in protest. "Look! Don't get argumentative with me, just do as I ask." He forced a smile. "Please?" The sonic tool whined again and he pouted. "Fine. Be like that. But when this is over I'm doing a full diagnosis on you." Making sure Sonic was comfortable he slipped on his jacket and headed back to the Control-Room. "Hacking into Time-Lord tech is virtually impossible and yet someone's blocked me out of certain medical programmes. I want to know why."

* * *

**Elsewhere in the Time-Vortex…**

"Are you sure you've got the right time and place this time, Amelia? The last two trips have been, to put it mildly, disastrous." The pilot checked and then double checked the read-out.

"I'm sure I got it right this time." Came Amelia's reply followed by a long, loud slurp.

He huffed typing on the key-pad, "I didn't mind the library, always loved a good book, but the planet entirely made of clouds I could've done without. Nice colours, but I didn't care for the pink ones when it rained. My other coat still smells of chocolate milk." He looked over the top of the control panel with the hint of a smile, "Still, it was nice to see you enjoying yourself. I guess where you're from chocolate milk must be hard to come by. It was the truth wasn't it? That you're from The Void?"

"Yep." With a final slurp of her milk-shake, Amelia looked up from the instrument she was watching. It was a funny looking thing, like an old fashioned egg timer: tiny luminous ball-bearings dropped from the top down to the bottom. When the bottom section of the hour-glass was full the whole thing flipped over and the process started again. According to the pilot of the ship it was all part of the controls to make it fly. She looked at him with a smile on her face; her jade eyes were bright with excitement. She was about to ask how long it was going to be before they landed when a large shower of sparks erupted from the control panel making her jump in surprise. "What's happening?!"

Her friend darted around the centre panel, adjusting this and that. "We're getting close! The two machines can sense each other. Hold down that lever next to you…NOW!" She did as he asked and the room stopped shaking. "OK. She's stable for now." He gave her a serious look. "I know you asked for my help but understand this: what we're about to do is very, _**very**_ dangerous. If we're caught it could result in all kinds of paradoxes."

"Well then," Amelia took a familiar looking silver tube from its moorings and tossed it over to the pilot who caught it easily. "Best not get caught. Eh, Doctor?"

* * *

** The plot thickens…**

**We're nearly there, folks, just a couple more chapters and I can put this story to bed. Let's go out with a big bang-WHOO!**


End file.
